Tanya Roberts Dead at 65, Boyfriend Says, a Day After Premature Death Announcement

Actress Tanya Roberts has died just a day after her representative prematurely said she passed away. Roberts, who starred as the Bond girl Stacey Sutton in A View to Kill and played Lara Prepon’s on-screen mother in That ’70s Show, died Monday night at L.A.’s Cedars-Sinai Hospital. Her partner, Lance O’Brien, confirmed Roberts’ death to TMZ Tuesday morning, informing the outlet he received a call from a doctor Monday night at around 9 p.m. local time informing him the actress passed away. Both the Daily Mail and The Sun have also confirmed Roberts’ death. Roberts was 65.

Confirmation of Roberts’ passing comes after her representative told TMZ the actress passed away Sunday evening after being hospitalized. The actress had been rushed to a hospital and put on a ventilator after she collapsed after walking her dog on Christmas Eve, according to her representative, Mike Pingel. Roberts was mistakenly reported dead by her rep after being told by O’Brien she had passed. O’Brien at the time told TMZ, “As I held her in her last moments, she opened her eyes. I was able to see her beautiful eyes one last time. Tanya had the most beautiful eyes.” Roberts’ death had been reported on by numerous outlets, though Pingel later confirmed Roberts was actually still alive. telling outlets in a statement, “after seeing her, [O’Brien] felt that she had passed. (Then) the doctors from Cedars Sinai called him and told him at 10 a.m. that she had not passed last night, but it is dire. Please keep her in your prayers.”

Speaking with The Sun after it was revealed Roberts was still alive, O’Brien told the outlet the outcome was grim. He explained the actress’s “kidneys are so far gone, her liver is so far gone, her gall bladder is so far gone.” He said that Roberts “also has a terrible blood infection.” He previously said that Roberts’ hospitalization was not related to the coronavirus.

Born Victoria Leigh Blum in New York City, Roberts kicked off her acting career in New York before moving to Hollywood with her husband in the late 1970s. She landed her breakthrough role in 1980 when she was cast to play Julie Rogers in the fifth and final season of Charlie’s Angels. Throughout the decades, she was landed roles in numerous other cult classics, even starring opposite Roger Moore in his final James Bond movie, A View to Kill. Roberts is also well-known for portraying Midge Pinciotti on That ’70s Show from 1998 until 2001. Her other credits include The Beastmaster (1982), Hearts and Armour (1983), Sheena (1984), Night Eyes (1990), The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, and many others. She is survived by O’Brien and her sister Barbara Chase.