Tanya Roberts

Tanya Roberts
Roberts c. 1985
Born	Victoria Leigh Blum (1955-10-15)October 15, 1955 New York City, U.S.
Died	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress and producer
Years active	1975–2005
Spouse(s)	Barry Roberts (m. 1974; d. 2006)
Partner(s)	Lance O'Brien (?–2021)

Victoria Leigh Blum (October 15, 1955 – January 4, 2021), known professionally as Tanya Roberts, was an American actress, producer, and model. She was best known for playing Julie Rogers in the final season of the 1970s television series Charlie's Angels, Stacey Sutton in the James Bond film A View to a Kill, and Midge Pinciotti on That '70s Show. She appeared in 81 episodes of That '70s Show from 1998 to 2004.

Early life

Roberts was born Victoria Leigh Blum in 1955 in the Bronx, New York City, the second child of a father of Irish descent and a Jewish mother. She had one older sister, Barbara. Roberts's father supported their family on a modest income, working as a fountain pen salesman in Manhattan. Roberts and her sister were raised in the central Bronx.

She relocated from New York with her mother to live in Mississauga, Ontario, for several years, where she started forming a photo portfolio and laying plans for a modeling career. At age 15, she left high school and lived for a while hitchhiking across the United States. She eventually returned to New York City and became a fashion and cover model. After meeting psychology student Barry Roberts (while waiting in line for a movie), she proposed to him in a subway station and they were soon married. While Barry pursued a career as a screenwriter, she began to study at the Actors Studio with Lee Strasberg and Uta Hagen under the name Tanya Roberts. As a result, she appeared in off Broadway productions such as Picnic and Antigone.

Career

Roberts began her career as a model in TV ads for Excedrin, Ultra Brite, Clairol, and Cool Ray sunglasses. She played serious roles in the off-Broadway productions Picnic and Antigone. She also supported herself as an Arthur Murray dance instructor. Her film debut was the horror film Forced Entry (1975). This was followed by the comedy film The Yum-Yum Girls (1976).

In 1976 she was cast in The Last Victim, her screen debut.

In 1977, as her husband was securing his own screenwriting career, the couple moved to Hollywood. The following year, Roberts participated in the drama Fingers. In 1979 Roberts appeared in the cult movie Tourist Trap, Racquet, and California Dreaming. Roberts was featured in several television pilots which were not picked up; Zuma Beach (a 1978 comedy), Pleasure Cove (1979), and Waikiki (1980).

Roberts was chosen in the summer of 1980 from some 2,000 candidates to replace Shelley Hack in the fifth season of the detective television series Charlie's Angels. Roberts played Julie Rogers, a streetwise fighter who used her fists more than her gun. Producers hoped Roberts's presence would revitalize the series's declining ratings and regenerate media interest in the series. Before the season's premiere, Roberts was featured on the cover of People magazine with a headline asking if Roberts would be able to save the declining series from cancellation. Despite the hype of Roberts's debut in November 1980, the series continually drew dismal ratings and was cancelled in June 1981.

Roberts played Kiri, a slave rescued by protagonist Dar (Marc Singer) in the adventure fantasy film The Beastmaster (1982), which became a cult film and which included a topless swimming scene. She was featured in a nude pictorial in Playboy to help promote the movie, appearing on that issue's October 1982 cover. In 1983, Roberts filmed the Italian-made adventure fantasy film Hearts and Armour (also known as Paladini-storia d'armi e d'amori and Paladins — The Story of Love and Arms), based on the medieval novel Orlando Furioso.

Stacy Keach and Tanya Roberts in 1983

She portrayed Velda, the secretary to private detective Mike Hammer, in the television movie Murder Me, Murder You (1983), based on crime novelist Mickey Spillane’s iconic Mike Hammer private detective series. The two-part pilot spawned the syndicated television series Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer. She declined to continue the role in the Mike Hammer series to work on her next project, the 1984 fantasy movie Sheena: Queen of the Jungle, in which she played the main character. The movie was a box office and critical disaster, garnering her a nomination for "Worst Actress" at the Razzie Awards.

Roberts appeared as Bond girl Stacey Sutton, a geologist, in A View to a Kill (1985). In the wake of this performance, she again was nominated for a Razzie Award. Roberts's other 1980s films include Night Eyes, an erotic thriller; Body Slam (1987), an action movie set in the professional wrestling world (another cult favorite); and Purgatory, a movie about a woman wrongfully imprisoned in Africa.

Roberts starred in the erotic thriller Inner Sanctum (1991) alongside Margaux Hemingway. In 1992, she played Kay Egan in Sins of Desire. She appeared on the cable series Hot Line in 1995, and in the video game The Pandora Directive in 1996.

In 1998, Roberts took the role of Midge Pinciotti on the television sitcom That '70s Show. Roberts revealed on E! True Hollywood Story that she left the series in 2001 because her husband had become terminally ill. She departed from the show following its 3rd season (with her character's absence explained during the following season) and returned for a few special guest appearances in the 6th and 7th season, in 2004. She retired from acting in 2005. She wrote the foreword to the book The Q Guide to Charlie's Angels (2008). She had maintained an active social media presence by hosting video chats on Facebook and Zoom during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Personal life

Roberts was married to Barry Roberts from 1974 until his death in 2006. They had no children. Roberts lived in Hollywood Hills, California. Her sister, Barbara Chase, was married to Timothy Leary.

Death

On December 24, 2020, Roberts fell out of bed and could not get up, following intestinal pain and breathing difficulties that began on a hike the day before. She was taken to Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles and was later placed on a ventilator. It was initially reported that Roberts died on January 3, 2021 after her partner, Lance O'Brien, told her manager that he had visited her in the hospital and "said goodbye". O'Brien later clarified that this was an end-of-life visit; he had not been permitted to see her during her hospitalization due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but was invited to return when Roberts was taken off life support. She was critically ill from a urinary tract infection that entered her organs and bloodstream, leading to a blood infection made worse due to Roberts' history of hepatitis C. After the premature reports, O'Brien was informed by the hospital that she died in the evening of January 4, and confirmed this to the media on January 5.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Refs
1975	Forced Entry	Nancy Ulman
1976	The Yum Yum Girls	April
1977	The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover	Stewardess
1978	Fingers	Julie
1979	Tourist Trap	Becky
1979	California Dreaming	Stephanie
1979	Racquet	Bambi
1982	The Beastmaster	Kiri
1983	Hearts and Armour	Angelica (Isabella)
1984	Sheena	Sheena
1985	A View to a Kill	Stacey Sutton
1986	Body Slam	Candace Vandervagen
1988	Purgatory	Carly Arnold
1990	Twisted Justice	Secretary
1990	Night Eyes	Nikki Walker
1991	Inner Sanctum	Lynn Foster
1991	Legal Tender	Rikki Rennick
1992	Almost Pregnant	Linda Alderson	Video
1993	Sins of Desire	Kay Egan
1994	Deep Down	Charlotte

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Refs
1978	Zuma Beach	Denise	TV movie
1979	Pleasure Cove	Sally	TV movie
1980	Vega$	Officer Britt Blackwell	Episode: "Golden Gate Cop Killer: Parts 1 & 2" (Backdoor pilot for unproduced series Ladies in Blue)
1980	Waikiki	Carol	TV movie
1980–1981	Charlie's Angels	Julie Rogers	Main role (season 5)
1982	The Love Boat	Diane Dayton	Episode: "Green, But Not Jolly/Past Perfect Love/Instant Family"
1982	Fantasy Island	Amanda Parsons	Episode: "The Ghost's Story"
1983	Murder Me, Murder You	Velda	TV movie
1993	Greatest Heroes of the Bible	Bashemath	Episode: "Jacob's Challenge"
1994	Burke's Law	Julie Reardon	Episode: "Who Killed Nick Hazard?"
1994–1996	Hot Line	Rebecca	Main role
1995	Favorite Deadly Sins	Herself	TV movie
1995	Silk Stalkings	Callie Callahan	Episode: "Till Death Do Us Part"
1997	The Blues Brothers Animated Series	Toni G.	Voice role Recurring role
1997	High Tide	Rhonda Fogel	Episode: "Girl on the Run"
1998	The Angry Beavers	Marsha	Voice role Episode: "Same Time Last Week/Beaver Fever"
1998–2004	That '70s Show	Midge Pinciotti	Recurring role seasons 1–3; special guest appearance seasons 6–7
2002	Off Centre	Gretchen	Episode: "Mike & Liz & Chau & Jordan"
2003	Fillmore!	Author	Voice role Episode: "The Unseen Reflection"
2005	Eve	Rebecca	Episode: "Kung Fu Divas"
2005	Barbershop	Ellie Palmer	Episodes: "Family Business", "Debates and Dead People"

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996	The Pandora Directive	Regan Madsen	Video game

External links

• Tanya Roberts at the Internet Movie Database
• Tanya Roberts at the TCM Movie Database
• Tanya Roberts at AllMovie