Roberta Haynes obit

Roberta Haynes, Gary Cooper’s Co-Star in ‘Return to Paradise,’ Dies at 91

Roberta Haynes, who starred opposite Gary Cooper in the South Pacific-set 1953 movie 'Return to Paradise,' has died. She was 91.

 

 She was not on the list.

Roberta Haynes, who starred opposite Gary Cooper in the South Pacific-set 1953 movie Return to Paradise, has died. She was 91.

Haynes died Thursday night in Delray Beach, Florida, her son, Jonathan Ward, told The Hollywood Reporter.

Haynes portrayed a native on the island of Matareva who has a romance and then a child with Cooper’s drifter character in Return to Paradise, directed by Mark Robson and based on a novel by James Michener.

In a 2015 interview, Haynes said she adored working with the actor, who she noted was ill and on medication during filming on location in British West Samoa. “Don’t feel bad if I don’t make a pass at you,” he told her.

She also appeared in two Westerns in 1953: Gun Fury, directed by Raoul Walsh, and The Nebraskan, in which she co-starred with Philip Carey.

With her dark hair, dark eyes and olive skin, Haynes often played Mexican, Native American or Polynesian women in the movies. “I wanted to be a serious actress, to play the roles that Ingrid Bergman played. But I was always typecast as a ‘fiery Mexican,'” she said in a 2017 interview with Vulture. “The ‘good girl’ roles always went to actresses with blond hair and blue eyes.”

An accident involving gunfire and explosions on the set of a Western severely damaged her eyesight. She did not work for several years until operations restored most of her vision.

Born Roberta Schack on Aug. 19, 1927, in Wichita Falls, Texas, she and her family moved to Los Angeles when she was a child.

She had uncredited roles in the 1949 films Knock on Any Door, starring Humphrey Bogart, and John Huston’s We Were Strangers, which featured Jennifer Jones and John Garfield in a story set in Cuba.

She appeared on Broadway in 1950 in The Madwoman of Chaillot with John Carradine and then with Lee J. Cobb in The Fighter (1952), which took place in Mexico.

In 1957, she starred on live television with Roger Moore in a Matinee Theatre adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest and played a South Seas princess in the movie adventure Hell Ship Mutiny.

Haynes guest-starred on TV shows including Climax!, Lawman, Johnny Staccato, The F.B.I. and Falcon Crest and appeared in such other films as Point Blank (1967), The Adventurers (1970), Pete ‘n’ Tillie (1972) and Police Academy 6: City Under Siege (1989).

She worked at the Cinecitta film studio in Rome in the mid-1960s and as a vice president for television at 20th Century Fox in the ’70s, and she went on to produce several telefilms. Haynes also was writing screenplays and pitching projects up until her death, her son said.

In the Vulture story, she described how LSD therapy helped her in the late ’50s and said she had an “on and off” relationship with Marlon Brando and an affair with Richard Burton.

Haynes also had three husbands, including Hollywood agent Jay Kanter and actor Larry Ward (ABC’s The Dakotas). She and Ward divorced in 1971, and she never remarried.

 

Survivors also include her grandchildren, Gemma and Mason.

Filmography

Actress (45 credits)

 2004 The Copper Scroll of Mary Magdalene (Documentary)

Mary the Mother

 1989 Police Academy 6: City Under Siege

Bus Passenger

 1988 The Secret Life of Kathy McCormick (TV Movie)

Woman #2

 1986 Knight Rider (TV Series)

Maid

- Deadly Knightshade (1986) ... Maid

 1986 Falcon Crest (TV Series)

Diana Nettles

- Conundrum (1986) ... Diana Nettles

 1982 Knots Landing (TV Series)

Anesthesiologist #2

- Abby's Choice (1982) ... Anesthesiologist #2

 1982 The Rules of Marriage (TV Movie)

Elaine Fine

 1973 The F.B.I. (TV Series)

Landlady

- The Big Job (1973) ... Landlady

 1972 Pete 'n' Tillie

Party Guest (uncredited)

 1971 Valdez Is Coming

Polly (uncredited)

 1970 The Martlet's Tale

 1970 The Adventurers

Dax's Mother (uncredited)

 1967 Point Blank

Mrs. Carter

 1960 Johnny Staccato (TV Series)

Betty Bryn

- The Mask of Jason (1960) ... Betty Bryn

 1960 Hawaiian Eye (TV Series)

Alice Thomas

- Cut of Ice (1960) ... Alice Thomas

 1960 The Rebel (TV Series)

Destarte

- Gold Seeker (1960) ... Destarte

 1960 Lawman (TV Series)

Mattie Creedy

- The Showdown (1960) ... Mattie Creedy

 1960 The Man and the Challenge (TV Series)

Patricia Halakua

- The Storm (1960) ... Patricia Halakua

 1959 Richard Diamond, Private Detective (TV Series)

Audry Billings

- The Caller (1959) ... Audry Billings

 1959 Black Saddle (TV Series)

Chata

- Apache Trail (1959) ... Chata

 1959 One Step Beyond (TV Series)

Ellen Chambers

- Forked Lightning (1959) ... Ellen Chambers

 1959 Not for Hire (TV Series)

Cleo

- The Soldier's Story (1959) ... Cleo

 1959 The Lawless Years (TV Series)

Petrina Nuccio

- Lucky Silva (1959) ... Petrina Nuccio

 1959 Behind Closed Doors (TV Series)

Anna Sung

- The Quemoy Story (1959) ... Anna Sung

 1958 Studio One (TV Series)

Amy Garnet

- No Place to Run (1958) ... Amy Garnet

 1958 The United States Steel Hour (TV Series)

Dorie Schaeffer

- A Family Alliance (1958) ... Dorie Schaeffer

 1957-1958 Matinee Theatre (TV Series)

Gomer

- The Prophet Hosea (1958) ... Gomer

- The Importance of Being Earnest (1957)

 1957 Hell Ship Mutiny

Princess Mareva

 1957 M Squad (TV Series)

Mary Kearney

- Pete Loves Mary (1957) ... Mary Kearney

 1957 Climax! (TV Series)

- The Man Who Stole the Bible (1957)

 1956 Conflict (TV Series)

Maria

- Silent Journey (1956) ... Maria

 1956 Casablanca (TV Series)

Maria Valenti

- Siren Song (1956) ... Maria Valenti

 1956 Crusader (TV Series)

Anya

- The Threshold (1956) ... Anya

 1955 Tua per la vita

 1955 Captain Gallant of the Foreign Legion (TV Series)

Kelley Mitchell

- Pipeline (1955) ... Kelley Mitchell

 1955 Sherlock Holmes (TV Series)

Lydia

- The Case of the Night Train Riddle (1955) ... Lydia

 1953 The Nebraskan

Mrs. Paris Elliott

 1953 Gun Fury

Estella Morales

 1953 Return to Paradise

Maeva

 1952 Rebound (TV Series)

Janie

- The Henchman (1952)

- The Prize (1952) ... Janie

 1952 The Fighter

Nevis

 1951 Somerset Maugham TV Theatre (TV Series)

- Honolulu (1951)

 1949 The Boris Karloff Mystery Playhouse (TV Series)

- Mad Illusion (1949)

 1949 We Were Strangers

Lolita Valdés (uncredited)

 1949 Knock on Any Door

Woman (uncredited)