Tanya Roberts Quick Info | |
---|---|
Height | 5 ft 8½ in |
Weight | 59 kg |
Date of Birth | October 15, 1955 |
Zodiac Sign | Libra |
Date of Death | January 4, 2021 |
Tanya Roberts aka “The Bond Girl”, was a well-known actress, model, and producer who charmed the film industry with her good looks and incredible acting skills back in the 70s. One of her most prominent appearances was as Stacey Sutton in the James Bond film A View to a Kill (1985). However, she was also credited with various other well-known character portrayals such as Julie Rogers in the final season of the 1970s television series Charlie’s Angels and Midge Pinciotti in That ’70s Show.
Born Name
Victoria Leigh Blum
Nick Name
Tanya, The Bond Girl
Age
Tanya was born on October 15, 1955.
Died
She died on January 4, 2021, at the age of 65, in Los Angeles, California, the United States due to a urinary tract infection that led to a series of organ complications and blood infections.
Sun Sign
Libra
Born Place
The Bronx, New York City, New York, United States
Nationality
Education
Tanya decided to drop out of high school at the age of 15.
Later, she joined the Actors Studio in New York City, where she was coached under the careful eye of prominently known actor, director, and theatre practitioner Lee Strasberg and Uta Hagen.
In the past, Roberts trained vocally for 5 years in order to stop talking with The Bronx accent.
Occupation
Actress, Producer
Family
- Father – Oscar Maximilian Blum
- Mother – Dorothy Leigh Smith
- Siblings – Barbara Blum Chase (Older Sister) (Filmmaker, Actress)
- Others – Timothy Leary (Ex Brother-In-Law) (Psychologist, Author), Theodore W. Blum (Paternal Grandfather), Zach Leary (Nephew)
Build
Slim
Height
5 ft 8½ in or 174 cm
Weight
59 kg or 130 lbs
Boyfriend / Spouse
Tanya had dated –
- Dodi Fayed (1981)
- Barry Roberts (1974-2006) – Actor Barry Roberts and Tanya tied the knot to one another sometime in the year 1974 and lived happily married until Barry’s death on June 15, 2006, after a 4 and half year battle with encephalitis. The couple had met while standing cue for a movie and it was Tanya who made the first move and proposed to him in a subway station.
- Lance O’Brien
Race / Ethnicity
White
Tanya had Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry on her father’s side and English as well as Irish ancestry on her mother’s side.
Hair Color
Dark Red
However, she preferred to dye her to either light brown or blonde.
Eye Color
Blue
Sexual Orientation
Straight
Distinctive Features
- Her alluring sparkling blue eyes
- Hour glass-like physical appearance
- Breathless voice
Brand Endorsements
Roberts had been featured in the commercials for various brands including –
- Ultra-Brite Toothpaste
- Clairol Shampoo
- Cool-Ray Sunglasses
- Consolidated Resorts, Inc.
- Excedrin
Tanya Roberts Favorite Things
- Acting Role – Midge Pinciotti on That ’70s Show
Source – The Shelbyville News
Tanya Roberts Facts
- Originally, her father belonged to New York, whereas her mother was born in Oldham, England.
- Her parents Dorothy and Oscar got married to one another in England in 1945.
- Growing up, wealth was not in abundance. Her father sold fountain pens in the Manhattan area to provide for his family.
- Tanya was brought up alongside her older sister Barbara in the central Bronx. Later, she and her mother Dorothy moved to Mississauga, Ontario, where they resided for many years. After moving there, Tanya developed an interest in modeling and started to work on her picture portfolios in order to get one step closer to beginning her career in the fashion industry.
- At just 15 years old, Roberts left high school to hitchhike across the United States before returning back to New York only to become a cover and fashion model.
- Prior to having entered the entertainment industry, she worked at one of the Arthur Murray dance studios to support herself financially.
- Her off-Broadway production appearances include director Joshua Logan’s Picnic and playwright Jean Cocteau’s Antigone.
- In 1975, Tanya Roberts made her debut theatrical film appearance as Nancy Ulman in the horror-thriller movie The Last Victim. The film was originally titled Forced Entry.
- She moved to Hollywood with her then-husband Barry in 1977 as he had begun to make a name for himself as a screenwriter.
- In the summer of 1980, Tanya auditioned for the role of Julie Rogers amongst 2000 other women and won the role. She was cast as a replacement to actress, producer, and model Shelley Marie Hack in the 5th season of Charlie’s Angels. However, the declining ratings of the show saw the end of the series in June 1981.
- Roberts joined the cast of TV sitcom That ’70s Show as Midge Pinciotti in 1998 but she went on a hiatus to take care of Barry who had become ill in 2001. Nevertheless, Tanya returned for the 6th and 7th season of the show with several guest appearances until she finally decided to retire from acting in 2005.
- The last show that she appeared in was as Ellie Palmer in Barbershop in 2005.
- Roberts played the character of Regan Madsen in the video game The Pandora Directive (1996).
- Actresses Priscilla Presley and Sharon Stone were first taken into consideration for the role of Stacey Sutton in A View to a Kill. However, due to reasons unknown, the character was later given to Tanya.
- She was a Democrat.
- Tanya adopted her screen name “Tanya Roberts” after getting married to actor Barry Roberts and continued to go by it even after his death.
- It was estimated that Tanya had a net worth of $10 million at the peak of her career.
- According to sources, problems leading up to her death began while she went on a hike when she began to suffer from chronic intestinal pain and breathing difficulty. A day after the incident, on December 24, 2020, Tanya fell out of her bed. Unable to get up, she was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles and placed under a ventilator.
- On January 3, 2021, it was mistakenly reported by Roberts publicist that she had died as her then-partner Lance O’Brien had visited her one last time. However, publicist Mr. Pingel later justified the premature announcement to be an act of miscommunication as O’Brien had stated to Mr. Pingel that he had said: “goodbye to her”, hence, Mr. Pingel considering that to be her death.
- According to reports, Tanya had been in a long going battle with hepatitis C that made matters worse after she contracted a urinary tract infection that had spread to her organs and bloodstream. This eventually led to a severe blood infection that claimed her life on January 4, 2021.
- At the time of her death, Tanya had been residing in California alongside her husband Lance O’Brien.
- She was very fond of animals and had 2 dogs named Socks and Muttley and a parrot named Birdie.
- Tanya was an animal rights activist and she had always wanted to give a donation in her memory to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Featured Image By Wikimedia / Public Domain