Doris Roberts (born Doris May Green; November 4, 1925 - April 17, 2016) was an American stage, character actress, author and philanthropist, whose career spanned six decades of television. She had also appeared as a guest on many talk and variety shows. She has also appeared as a panelist on several game shows. She was also an advocate for animal rights and of animal-rights activism, supporting groups such as the United Activists for Animal Rights.

She started in films in 1968, and had prominent roles in movies, those included playing opposite Shirley Stoler in The Honeymoon Killers (1969), Elliott Gould in Little Murders (1971), Steven Keats in Hester Street (1975), Billy Crystal in Rabbit Test (1978), Robert Carradine in Number One with a Bullet (1987), Cady McClain in Simple Justice (1989), among many others. She received five Emmy Awards and a Screen Actors Guild award during her acting career, which began in 1951. She achieved continuing success for her co-starring role as Raymond Barone's mother, Marie Barone, on the long-running CBS sitcom, Everybody Loves Raymond (1996-2005), this last is the role she was known for. She also played Mildred Krebs in Remington Steele, a role she played from 1983-1987. Towards the end of her acting career, she also had a prominent role opposite Tyler Perry in Madea's Witness Protection (2012).

Early life

Roberts was born Doris May Green on November 4, 1925, in St. Louis, Missouri. She was raised by her mother, Ann Meltzer, in The Bronx, New York, with the assistance of her maternal grandparents, after her father, Larry Green, deserted the family. Roberts' stepfather, whose surname she took as her own, was Chester H. Roberts. Chester and Roberts' mother operated the Z.L. Rosenfield Agency, a stenographic service catering to playwrights and actors. Roberts was Jewish (her family was from Russia).

Career

Film and television

Roberts' acting career began in 1952 with a role on the TV series Studio One. She appeared in episodes of The Naked City (1958-63), Way Out (1961), Ben Casey (1963), and The Defenders (1962-63). In 1961, she made her film debut in Something Wild (1961).

She appeared in such 1960s and 1970s films as A Lovely Way to Die, No Way to Treat a Lady, The Honeymoon Killers, Such Good Friends, Little Murders, and The Taking of Pelham One Two Three. In 1978, she appeared in a film about John F. Kennedy's assassination, Ruby and Oswald, in which she played Jack Ruby's sister. She also appeared very briefly in The Rose, as the mother of the title character (played by Bette Midler).

In an interview with the Archive of American Television, Rue McClanahan confirmed that in 1972 she was approached by Norman Lear during the taping of an All In The Family episode to be a late replacement for Roberts, who was originally intended for the role of Vivian in Maude. (Roberts later guest starred in a 1976 All in the Family episode, "Edith's Night Out".) Roberts played Theresa Falco on Angie, and later appeared as Mildred Krebs on Remington Steele.

After Remington Steele ended, she starred in the TV movie remake of If It's Tuesday, It Still Must Be Belgium (1987) and the National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989). She appeared on Alice, playing the mother of the title character (played by her former Broadway co-star Linda Lavin), on Barney Miller as the wife of a man who secretly went to a sex surrogate, and on Full House as Danny Tanner's mother, Claire. She played the unhinged "Flo Flotsky" on four episodes of Soap; Dorelda Doremus, a faith healer, on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman; and lonely Aunt Edna on Step by Step.

Roberts achieved much of her fame for her role as Marie Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond. She was reportedly one of 100 actresses considered for the role. For her work on the series, she was nominated for seven Emmy Awards (and won four times) for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. She had previously won an Emmy for a guest appearance on St. Elsewhere, playing a homeless woman, and was also once nominated for her role on Remington Steele. She was nominated for appearances on Perfect Strangers and a PBS special called The Sunset Gang. In 2003, she made a guest appearance as Gordo's grandmother in Lizzie McGuire. The same year, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2006, she starred in Our House where she portrayed a wealthy woman who took homeless people in her house, and in Grandma's Boy. In 2007, she made a guest appearance on Law & Order: Criminal Intent. In 2008, she appeared in the romantic comedy Play the Game alongside Andy Griffith, who plays a lonely widowed grandfather re-entering the dating world after a 60-year hiatus.

Roberts appeared in the 2009 film Aliens in the Attic, which was filmed in Auckland, New Zealand. She played George Needleman's mother in Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection (2012). On September 23, 2010, she played Ms. Rinsky, Brick Heck's schoolteacher in the second season premiere episode of The Middle. This appearance reunited her with Patricia Heaton, her co-star from Everybody Loves Raymond. Roberts returned in two other episodes that season, "The Math Class" and the finale, "Back to Summer".

Stage

Roberts' stage career began in the 1950s on Broadway. She appeared in numerous Broadway shows including William Marchant's The Desk Set (with Shirley Booth), Neil Simon's The Last of the Red Hot Lovers (with James Coco and Linda Lavin) and Terrence McNally's Bad Habits. She starred in McNally's Unusual Acts of Devotion at the LaJolla Playhouse in June 2009.

Honors

In May 2005, Roberts received an honorary doctorate of fine arts from the University of South Carolina. She was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor on May 7, 2011. She was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in February 2003, at 7021 Hollywood Blvd.

Advocacy and other work

On September 4, 2002, Roberts testified before a U.S. Congressional panel that age discrimination was prevalent in Hollywood. She was a registered Democrat.

An animal rights advocate, Roberts worked with the group Puppies Behind Bars, which works with inmates in training guide dogs and assistance dogs for the physically disabled and elderly, as well as dogs trained in explosives detection to be used by law enforcement agencies. She was also active with the Children with AIDS Foundation, where she served as chairwoman.

With Danelle Morton, Roberts wrote Are You Hungry, Dear? Life, Laughs, and Lasagna. The book was published by St. Martin's Press in 2003, and serves as a memoir as well as a collection of some of Roberts' recipes.

Personal life

Roberts married Michael Cannata in 1956; they divorced in 1962. Their son, Michael Cannata, Jr. (born 1957) is her only child. She had three grandchildren: Kelsey, Andrew and Devon. Her second husband was writer William Goyen and they were married from 1963 until his death from leukemia in 1983.

Death

Roberts died in Los Angeles, California, on April 17, 2016, at age 90 in her sleep, due to a stroke. She also suffered from hypertension, for many years before her death. Just a month after her death, she was also memorialized in New York City, where the public memorial tribute was held at the Ambassador Theatre, where she appeared in 1972 in, The Secret Affairs of Mildred Wild with Maureen Stapleton, among the stars attending the service were David Hyde Pierce and Patricia Heaton, who played Roberts's unfavorable daughter-in-law. Series' star, acting protégé, TV son and longtime friend, Ray Romano, had said everything about her, prior to death: "Doris Roberts had an energy and a spirit that amazed me. She never stopped. Whether working professionally or with her many charities, or just nurturing and mentoring a green young comic trying to make it as an actor, she did everything with such a grand love for life and people and I will miss her dearly." Then, in another interview, Romano jokingly responded about the kissing thing that Roberts did off-camera: "You know how great she was then!" He also added: "We had a little get together for her. She was one of a kind. She can outwork it, outdrink it, good kisser, I was joking! I appreciated her." Just a month after her death, he also added: "Here's how good she was: She played the most intrusive, overbearing, noisy woman — always starting fights and whatnot and meddling in our business — and yet when I asked the fans who their favorite character was, all the time it was her," said Romano, "She was so good at portraying the love that was underneath." She was interred at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.

Filmography

Film

Television

Stage

Awards and nominations