In a bizarre and happy turn of events, That ’70s Show actress Tanya Roberts is still alive, despite her representative telling TMZ on Sunday she passed away suddenly. Her boyfriend, Lance O’Brien, found out she was still alive while being interviewed by Inside Edition, which published footage of him crying after hearing the news. Roberts, who also starred on Charlie’s Angels and played a Bond Girl in A View to a Kill, was thought to have died after she collapsed on Christmas Eve.
On Sunday, Roberts’ representative, Mike Pingel, told TMZ she collapsed after walking her dogs on Christmas Eve. She was rushed to a hospital and put on a ventilator. O’Brien told TMZ he was unable to visit Roberts at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles due to COVID restrictions initially. However, a staffer made an exemption for him because they thought Roberts would not make it. “As I held her in her last moments, she opened her eyes,” he said. “I was able to see her beautiful eyes one last time. Tanya had the most beautiful eyes.”
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O’Brien spoke with Inside Edition on Monday, hours after other media outlets reported Roberts’ death. O’Brien got a phone call from the ICU during the interview, telling him Roberts was still alive. “When she saw me and I was there, I saw her eyes open up. I felt good. I said, ‘Hey, her eyes are opening. Her eyes are opening.’ They told me that’s just a reflex,’” O’Brien recalled. He said the hospital staff even told him on Sunday Roberts had “no hope to live.” Roberts’ rep also confirmed to TMZ Monday that she is still alive.
Roberts was reportedly healthy before she collapsed last week. She began acting in Hollywood in the mid-1970s and earned a breakthrough role as Julie Rogers in the final season of the original Charlie’s Angels. During the 1980s, she starred in several camp classics, including Sheena and The Beastmaster. In 1985, she starred in Roger Moore’s final James Bond movie, A View to a Kill.
In 1998, Rogers was cast as Midge Pinciotti in That ’70s Show. She played Lara Prepon’s on-screen mother for the first three seasons and made guest appearances in Seasons 6 and 7. Roberts’ most recent acting role was two episodes of Barbershop in 2005.
“I was so sad to hear that Tanya Roberts has passed away,” That ’70s Show star Topher Grace tweeted Monday morning before the latest news on her health. “She was a Bond girl, one of Charlie’s Angels, and truly a delightful person to work with. I had never acted before and, to be honest, a little nervous around her. But she couldn’t have been kinder. We’ll miss you Midge.”
