Tanya Roberts obit

Tanya Roberts, Bond Girl and 'That '70's Show' Star, Dies at 65

 

 She was not on the list.

She also starred in the fifth and final season of ABC's 'Charlie's Angels' and appeared in the cult films 'The Beastmaster,' 'Body Slam' and 'Sheena: Queen of the Jungle.'

Tanya Roberts, the actress best known for playing a Bond girl in A View to a Kill and Midge Pinciotti on That '70's Show, has died. She was 65.

The actress collapsed while out walking her dogs on Dec. 24, and was admitted to Cedar-Sinar Hospital in Los Angeles. She died on Sunday her longtime friend and rep Mike Pingel told The Hollywood Reporter. It was not COVID-19 related, no cause of death has been given but Roberts was not ill in the days leading up to her death.

"I'm devastated. She was brilliant and beautiful and I feel like a light has been taken away. To say she was an angel would be at the top of the list. She was the sweetest person you'd ever meet and had a huge heart. She loved her fans, and I don't think she realized how much she meant to them," Pingel told THR.

Born Victoria Leigh Blum, Roberts had a career modeling and appearing in television adverts before turning to film acting in 1975 with the horror flick Forced Entry. She had a number of roles in films that would later have a cult following including the 1977 comedy Racquet and the 1982 fantasy epic The Beastmaster. She was also the lead in Columbia Pictures' 1984 adventure movie Sheena: Queen of the Jungle, a female version of the Tarzan story that despite its reported $25 million budget was a huge flop at the box office, though it went on to gain cult status.

Roberts' most notable major film role was in the 1985 Bond film A View to a Kill. The film, which was to be Roger Moore's last outing as 007, saw her play Stacey Sutton, an American geologist who becomes a target of villain Max Zorin played by Christopher Walken.

Despite the global media attention that follows every Bond release, her movie career didn't take off as she had hoped and in interviews in recent years, Roberts has discussed the so-called "curse" of being a Bond girl before she accepted the role. "I sort of felt like every girl who'd ever been a Bond girl had seen their career go nowhere, so I was a little cautious," Roberts told the Daily Mail in 2015. "I remember I said to my agent, 'No one ever works after they get a Bond movie' and they said to me, 'Are you kidding? Glen Close would do it if she could," she added.

After A View to a Kill, her other notable film credits were the Roddy Piper-led comedy Body Slam in 1987 and the 1990 erotic thriller Night Eyes.

As well as film, Roberts found success in television. After small roles in telefilms, she won the coveted role of playing an Angel in ABC's Charlie's Angels. Roberts replaced Shelley Hack, appearing as Julie Rogers in the fifth and final season of the show in 1980. She also appeared in episodes of Fantasy Island and Love Boat.

Her television career ramped up in the 90s just as the movie roles dried up. Modern audiences will remember her for a recurring supporting role in Fox's That '70's Show, in which she played Midge Pinciotti, Donna's dim-witted mother.

Though her last notable television credit was in Showtime's Barbershop: The Series in 2005, Roberts enjoyed a loyal following and spent a great deal of time directly communicating with fans, including a series of live chats during the pandemic.

Roberts is survived by her partner of 18 years Lance O'Brien, her sister Barbara and her beloved pet animals.

Filmography

Film

Year    Title     Role     Notes

1975    Forced Entry   Nancy Ulman

1976    The Yum Yum Girls   April   

1978    Fingers            Julie    

1979    Tourist Trap    Becky

California Dreaming   Stephanie       

Racquet           Bambi

1982    The Beastmaster         Kiri     

1983    Hearts and Armour     Angelica (Isabella)     

1984    Sheena             Sheena            

Starlog Magazine #98 Tanya Roberts Interview        Interviewee    

1985    A View to a Kill         Stacey Sutton

1986    Body Slam      Candace Vandervagen           

1988    Purgatory        Carly Arnold  

1990    Night Eyes      Nikki

1991    Inner Sanctum             Lynn Foster    

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

1978    Zuma Beach    Denise             TV movie

1979    Pleasure Cove             Sally    TV movie

1980    Vega$ Off. Britt Blackwell    "Golden Gate Cop Killer: Parts 1 & 2"

Waikiki           Carol   TV movie

1980–1981      Charlie's Angels          Julie Rogers    Main role

1982    The Love Boat            Diane Dayton "Green, But Not Jolly/Past Perfect Love/Instant Family"

Fantasy Island             Amanda Parsons         "The Ghost's Story"

1983    Murder Me, Murder You        Velda   TV movie

1993    Greatest Heroes of the Bible   Bashemath      "Jacob's Challenge"

1994    Burke's Law    Julie Reardon "Who Killed Nick Hazard?"

1994–1996      Hot Line          Rebecca           TV series

1995    Silk Stalkings Callie Callahan           "Till Death Do Us Part"

1997    The Blues Brothers Animated Series Toni G. (voice)           TV series

High Tide        Rhonda Fogel "Girl on the Run"

1998    The Angry Beavers     Marsha (voice)            "Same Time Last Week/Beaver Fever"

1998–2001, 2004        That '70s Show           Midge Pinciotti           Supporting role

2002    Off Centre       Gretchen         "Mike & Liz & Chau & Jordan"

2003    Fillmore!         Author (voice)            "The Unseen Reflection"

2005    Eve      Rebecca           "Kung Fu Divas"

Barbershop      Ellie Palmer    "Family Business", "Debates and Dead People"

Video games

Year    Title     Role     Notes

1996    The Pandora Directive            Regan Madsen            Video game