DEAD, AGAIN
Actress dies 1 day after false report of her death
The strange saga of Tanya Roberts’ death finally ended Tuesday with confirmation the sitcom star and former Bond girl died Monday night following an erroneous report she died Sunday.
Her longtime friend and rep Mike Pingel said she died around 9:30 p.m. California time at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
The cause of death was a urinary tract infection that spread to her kidney, gallbladder, liver and then blood stream, he said.
A source previously told the Daily News she also had Hepatitis C.
“It’s a major tragedy. And the other tragedy was that her longtime partner was not able to remain at her bedside due to COVID. He feels that talking to her might have helped her,” Pingel told The News Tuesday.
The Bronx-bred beauty best known for her roles on the 70s detective series “Charlie’s Angels,” the 1985 movie “A View to a Kill” and the sitcom “That ’70s Show” was 65.
Roberts collapsed at her Hollywood Hills home after a hike on Christmas Eve and was rushed to Cedars, where she was placed on a ventilator.
Her domestic partner, Lance O’Brien, was only allowed to see her briefly on Sunday to say goodbye and left after a short visit, in keeping with the hospital’s pandemic protocols.
Pingel said it appeared all but assured Roberts had died by the time he released a statement late Sunday saying she had passed. He called the mixup an unfortunate case of “miscommunication that went horribly wrong.”
“Hospitals are doing the best they can, but they’re like a war zone due to COVID, and trying to get information, it’s like Fort Knox,” Pingel said Tuesday.
He previously told The News he drove O’Brien home from Cedars on Sunday after the final farewell.
“He had seen Tanya, he had hugged her. I took him in for the last rites. He was very distraught,” Pingel said. “After seeing her, he felt that she had passed.”
It was while O’Brien was in the midst of a video interview with “Inside Edition” on Monday that he received a call from Cedars saying Roberts was still alive. He broke down on camera.
“Now you ’re telling that me she’s alive?”
O’Brien said in a clip of the interview.
“Oh, thank the Lord. Thank God.”
Born Victoria Leigh Blum in the Bronx, Roberts started her career as a model and actress appearing in commercials and in Off-Broadway productions.
Her big Hollywood break came when she was cast as the second replacement for Kate Jackson in the 1970s TV sensation “Charlie’s Angels.”
She apppeared with Cheryl Lad and Jaclyn Smith in the fifth and final season of the series about a group of gorgeous gun-toting female detectives.
She scored the lead role in the 1984 box-office flop “Sheena: Queen of the Jungle” and was cast as a Bond girl in the 1985 flick “A View to a Kill.”
She played geologist Stacey Sutton in the movie that marked Roger Moore’s last turn as Agent 007 and featured memorable villains played by Christopher Walken and Grace Jones.
She later appeared with professional wrestler Roddy Piper in the 1986 comedy “Body Slam” and in the 1990 erotic thriller “Night Eyes.”
She largely dropped out of the spotlight until returning to TV for a recurring cast role in the hit sitcom “That ’70s Show.” She played Donna’s sweet but dimwitted mom Midge Pinciotti in more than 80 episodes.
Roberts is survived by O’Brien and her sister Barbara.