Barton_Keyes Posted April 18, 2016 Share Posted April 18, 2016 The veteran character actress of stage and screen, Doris Roberts has died at the age of 90. Her career began on episodic television in a 1952 broadcast of Studio One. Subsequently, she appeared on episodes of The Naked City, Ben Casey, The Defenders, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show among other series. She also made a handful of appearances on the big screen over the years -- including roles in THE HONEYMOON KILLERS (1969), THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE (1974) and NATIONAL LAMPOON'S CHRISTMAS VACATION (1989). On the Broadway stage, Roberts appeared opposite Shirley Booth in Desk Set and opposite James Coco and Linda Lavin in Neil Simon's The Last of the Red Hot Lovers. After landing a regular TV series role alongside Pierce Brosnan in Remington Steele, Roberts achieved her greatest fame at the age of 70, when she took on the part of the overbearing, passive aggressive matriarch on the long-running sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond. That role earned Roberts a total of four Emmy awards. The Hollywood Reporter remembers Doris Roberts here: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/doris-roberts-star-everybody-loves-885315 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregoryPeckfan Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 Thank you for letting us know. I never watched Everybody loves Raymond, but I have always been a big fan of hers ever since I started watching Remmington Steele. That television show has long been a favourite show of mine. It airs on MeTv. I hope that they will air a tribute to her and that it will air in all areas unlike the 90th birthday look to Day which did not air in my area. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kid Dabb Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 I am saddened . Doris is one of my favorite actors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakeem Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 On the Broadway stage, Roberts appeared opposite Shirley Booth in Desk Set and opposite James Coco and Linda Lavin in Neil Simon's The Last of the Red Hot Lovers. Roberts and Coco won 1982-1983 Primetime Emmys for their supporting performances as a homeless couple in the "St. Elsewhere" episode titled "Cora and Arnie." I didn't know that they previously had worked together on the stage. Roberts and Coco with David Morse in "St. Elsewhere" 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavenderblue19 Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 Sad, Doris Roberts was a very good actress. I remember that episode on St. Elsewhere, I have a copy of it on tape. Ms. Roberts and Mr.Coco were wonderful and deserved those Emmy's for that performance. She'll be missed. RIP Doris Roberts 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swithin Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 So sad that Doris Roberts has left us, but at a good age and having had a great career. I remember the first time I saw her. I was a young teen and bought a cheap ticket for a preview of a Broadway play called The Office, by Maria Irene Fornes. Great cast: Elaine May, Doris Roberts, Jack Weston, Tony Lo Bianco, William Daniels, Ruth White, and others. Directed by Jerome Robbins. The play never officially opened -- it was pretty bad. I had only recently started going to the theater and was shocked to see the cast get booed at the curtain call. I remember Elaine May and the other actors looking at each other sheepishly. It made me sad to see those actors disrespected. But they all had great careers, and I remember how much I enjoyed Doris Roberts, and will always remember that unfortunate performance with all those great people. RIP Doris Roberts -- although born in St. Louis, she was raised in the Bronx. What a legacy she has left. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BingFan Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 One sign of a good actor is that he or she can improve mediocre material. In my opinion, Doris Roberts had that talent. In two otherwise cheesy (but enjoyable) TV Christmas movies, Mrs. Miracle and Call Me Mrs. Miracle (aka Miracle in Manhattan), Ms. Roberts plays the title role (actually named "Mrs. Merkle"), who seems empowered to perform minor miracles as a way of solving the other characters' problems. Ms. Roberts brings Mrs. Miracle to life in such a vigorous way that she becomes the main reason for watching those movies. I'll admit to being a pushover for Christmas movies, so that undoubtedly affects my overall opinion of the Miracle movies. But when I've occasionally seen Ms. Roberts in other productions, usually TV shows (e.g., Barney Miller), she was memorable there, too. I even noticed her two lines in Barefoot In The Park, a favorite Neil Simon movie in which she played a hotel maid. Had she been old enough for the golden days of Hollywood, I could see her as a very successful character actress, perhaps in the Spring Byington mode. Heck, Ms. Roberts was a successful character actress, albeit on TV (for the most part) rather than in the movies. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sepiatone Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 That's mostly where my clearest memories of Ms. Roberts are from(TV). She also made some appearances on "Raymond" costar Patricia Heaton's sitcom "The Middle" as the youngest kid's third grade teacher. And as expected, she gave that occasional appearing character a lot of panache Anyway, I always liked her in anything I saw her in, but right now the only movie I can right off the top of my head recall her in was her turn as the New York mayor's wife in THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123(1974). RIP madam. You've well earned it. Sepiatone 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopBilled Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 Roberts and Coco won 1982-1983 Primetime Emmys for their supporting performances as a homeless couple in the "St. Elsewhere" episode titled "Cora and Arnie." I didn't know that they previously had worked together on the stage. Roberts and Coco with David Morse in "St. Elsewhere" Loved all her performances...so many good ones. But her guest Emmy on St. Elsewhere during the 1982-83 season was well-earned. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GGGGerald Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 For me, she'll always be Mildred Krebs 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopBilled Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 For me, she'll always be Mildred Krebs Yes, I loved her on that series. But she really didn't miss a beat. As soon as it ended, she was on to other shows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregoryPeckfan Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 For me, she'll always be Mildred Krebs I love this show. It had the first season with a different synergy with a second male detective and a young woman answering the phone as Miss Fox that Steele always called Miss Wolf. But they soon realized that this triangle would not work and in came Doris Roberts. Nepotism would come into play as Brosnan's real life wife and Bond girl - Cassandra Harris -would appear as a long lost girlfriend and threat to Laura. In addition, Zimbalist's father E. Zimbalist Jr. would be on the show and eventually revealed to be a very important man in Steele's life... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cigarjoe Posted April 20, 2016 Share Posted April 20, 2016 Here she is with Carroll Baker in her debut film Something Wild (1961) 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GGGGerald Posted April 20, 2016 Share Posted April 20, 2016 I love this show. It had the first season with a different synergy with a second male detective and a young woman answering the phone as Miss Fox that Steele always called Miss Wolf. But they soon realized that this triangle would not work and in came Doris Roberts. Nepotism would come into play as Brosnan's real life wife and Bond girl - Cassandra Harris -would appear as a long lost girlfriend and threat to Laura. In addition, Zimbalist's father E. Zimbalist Jr. would be on the show and eventually revealed to be a very important man in Steele's life... Even on the DVD, she seemed to be the most enthusiastic about the series afterwards. She always seemed to find work and do well at it. I've every episode so many times I can quote dialogue. She really was like a referee allowing the other two actors to really express themselves. One thing about that dynamic was that each character had something on the other two. So they needed each other but, had to be nice to each other at the same time. Something you don't find too often. Mostly its (movies and tv ) very simplistic today. One person is the star and the others bounce off of that person. Or there's a bunch of zany people and one person is that rational "calm in the eye of the storm". 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaveGirl Posted April 20, 2016 Share Posted April 20, 2016 She made a big impression even in that small role in "The Honeymoon Killers" as Bunny. I loved her scenes with Tony Lo Bianco and Shirley Stoler. Sorry to hear of her passing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregoryPeckfan Posted April 20, 2016 Share Posted April 20, 2016 Re: MeTV and Remmington Steele and a potential tribute to Doris Roberts: I just tried to check on the website for my local Metv station to see if we would be getting any tribute and the site says that it has been hacked. I guess I'll have to check metv channel itself and wait and see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts