| Tanya Roberts  AKA Victoria Leigh Blum
Born: 15-Oct-1955
Birthplace: Bronx, NY
Died: 4-Jan-2021
Location of death: Los Angeles, CA
Cause of death: Infection
Gender: Female
Religion: Jewish
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Actor Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Bond Girl, Beastmaster, That 70s Show Tanya Roberts dropped out of school and married at 15. She lived a bohemian life with her loser husband, until her mother tracked them down, took Roberts home, and had the marriage annulled. She took years of acting lessons, and worked as a dance instructor at an Arthur Murray studio, and later as a model. Her first film was Forced Entry, a sleazy 1975 thriller about a serial rapist, and in the excellent Fingers she was seduced by piano player Harvey Keitel with the memorable line, "I love your pussy". She had a small part in the cheesy Zuma Beach with Suzanne Somers, but Roberts was still basically an unknown when she was hired as the last of TV's Charlie's Angels in 1980, replacing Shelley Hack, who had replaced Kate Jackson. The show, though, was past its prime, and was cancelled after 16 episodes with Roberts.
Roberts then had a few years as a semi-star, headlining the low-budget sword-and-sandal epic The Beastmaster with Marc Singer and Sheena, Queen of the Jungle with Ted Wass. She was a Bond girl in A View to a Kill with Roger Moore, which could have been her big break, but she did little in the movie beyond looking gorgeous and screaming "Help, James", and the reviews were unkind. After that, she was generally relegated to schlock and "erotic thrillers", including Legal Tender with Morton Downey, Jr., Sins of Desire with Jan-Michael Vincent, and Deep Down with George Segal.
Her career had a brief resurgence when she was cast as Laura Prepon's lovably empty-headed MILF mom on That '70s Show in 1998, but Roberts left the show in 2001 to care for her ailing second husband. Her sister is erstwhile actress Barbara Chase, perhaps best known for a small role in Nine to Five with Jane Fonda. Chase was married to Timothy Leary for 14 years, making Roberts the drug-addled genius's sister-in-law.
Roberts died 4 January 2021 from complications of a urinary tract infection. Her death had been prematurely announced by her publicist a day prior, then retracted. After a day of confusion, Roberts died at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles. Sister: Barbara Chase (actress, was married to Timothy Leary)
Husband: Barry Roberts (screenwriter, b. 1946, m. 1974, d. 2006 encephalitis)
Boyfriend: Lance O'Brien (until her death)
High School: (dropped out)
Bond Girls Stacey Sutton in A View to a Kill
Irish Ancestry Paternal
Jewish Ancestry Maternal
TELEVISION
That '70s Show Midge Pinciotti (1998-2001)
Charlie's Angels Julie Rogers (1980-81)
FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR
Favorite Deadly Sins (12-Nov-1995) · Herself
Deep Down (1994)
Almost Pregnant (22-Jun-1992)
Inner Sanctum (25-Sep-1991)
Night Eyes (1990)
Body Slam (1987)
A View to a Kill (24-May-1985) · Stacey Sutton
Sheena (17-Aug-1984)
Hearts and Armour (21-Sep-1983)
The Beastmaster (20-Aug-1982)
California Dreaming (Apr-1979) · Stephanie
Tourist Trap (16-Mar-1979)
Fingers (26-Aug-1978)
The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover (Dec-1977)
The Yum-Yum Girls (1976)
Forced Entry (1975)
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