Victoria Leigh Blum, known by the stage nameTanya Roberts, is an American actress and producer. She initially rose to prominence as Julie Rogers in the final season of Charlie's Angels in 1980. She is known for her role as Kiri in The Beastmaster, Stacey Sutton in the James Bond filmA View to a Kill, and as Midge Pinciotti on That '70s Show.
Early life
Roberts was born in 1955 in the Bronx, New York City, the second child of her father, of Irish descent, and a Jewish mother. She has one older sister, Barbara. Roberts' father supported their family on a modest income, working as a fountain pen salesman in Manhattan. Roberts and her sister were raised in the central Bronx. She relocated from New York with her mother to live in Toronto for several years, where she started formulating a photo portfolio and laying plans for a modeling career. At age 15, she left high school and lived for a while hitchhiking across the United States. She eventually returned to New York City and became a fashion and cover model. After meeting psychology student Barry Roberts, she proposed to him in a subway station and they were soon married. While Barry pursued a career as a screenwriter, she began to study at the Actors Studio with Lee Strasberg and Uta Hagen under the name Tanya Roberts.
Acting career
Early career
Her career began as a model in TV ads for Excedrin, Ultra Brite, Clairol, and Cool Ray sunglasses. She played serious roles in the off-Broadway productions Picnic and Antigone. She also supported herself as an Arthur Murray dance instructor. Her film debut was the horror filmForced Entry. This was followed by the comedy filmThe Yum-Yum Girls. In 1977, as her husband was securing his own screenwriting career, the couple moved to Hollywood. The following year, Roberts participated in the drama Fingers. In 1979 Roberts appeared in the cult movie Tourist Trap, and also in Racquet, and California Dreaming. Roberts was featured in several television pilots that were not picked up: Zuma Beach, Pleasure Cove, and Waikiki.
''Charlie's Angels''
Roberts was chosen in the summer of 1980 from some 2,000 candidates to replace Shelley Hack in the fifth season of the detective television series, Charlie's Angels on ABC. Roberts played Julie Rogers, a streetwise fighter who used her fists more than her gun. Producers hoped Roberts' presence would revitalize the series' declining ratings and regenerate media interest in the series. Before the season's premiere, Roberts was featured on the cover of People magazine with a headline asking if Roberts would be able to save the declining series from cancellation. Despite the hype Roberts's debut had received, her premiere episode in November 1980 drew dismal ratings. The series was thereafter moved to several different time slots on the broadcast schedule, causing viewership to drop as the season progressed. After just 16 episodes of a fifth season, the series had drastically slipped to 59th in the ratings out of just 65 shows and was cancelled in June 1981.
1980s
Roberts played Kiri, in the adventure fantasy filmThe Beastmaster, which included a topless swimming scene. She was featured in a nude pictorial in Playboy to help promote the movie, appearing on that issue's October 1982 cover. In 1983, Roberts filmed the Italian-made adventure fantasy film Hearts and Armour, based on the medieval novel Orlando Furioso. She portrayed Velda, a buxom secretary to private detective Mike Hammer in the television movie Murder Me, Murder You. The two-part pilot spawned the syndicated television series, Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer. She declined to continue the role in the Mike Hammer series to work on her next project, Sheena: Queen of the Jungle. The movie was a box office and critical disaster, garnering her a nomination for "Worst Actress" at the Razzie Awards. Roberts subsequently appeared as Bond girl Stacey Sutton, a geologist, in A View to a Kill. She again found herself nominated by the critics for a Razzie Award. Other 1980s films include Night Eyes, an erotic thriller; Body Slam, an action movie set in the professional wrestling world; and Purgatory, a movie about a woman wrongfully imprisoned in Africa.
1990s–present
Roberts starred in the erotic thriller, Inner Sanctum alongside Margaux Hemingway. In 1992, she played Kay Egan in Sins of Desire. She appeared on the cable series, Hot Line in 1994; and in the video gameThe Pandora Directive in 1996. In 1998, Roberts took the role of Midge Pinciotti on the television sitcom That '70s Show. Roberts revealed on E! True Hollywood Story that she left the series in 2001 because her husband had become terminally ill. She wrote the foreword to the book, The Q Guide to Charlie's Angels.
