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Doris Roberts

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Doris Roberts
File:Doris Marie shocked.jpg
Roberts in a scene from Everybody Loves Raymond.
Born
Doris May Metzler
Spouse(s)William Goyen (1963 - 1983; by his death)
Michael Cannata (? - 1962; divorced, 1 child)

Doris May Roberts (b. November 4 1930, St. Louis, Missouri) is a five-time Emmy Award-winning American actress, best known for playing Marie Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond.

Biography

Early life

Doris Roberts was born Doris May Metzler in St. Louis, Missouri in 1930 (some sources erroneously cite 1929); her father deserted the family when Roberts was a child, and her mother, Ann Meltzer, raised Doris with the help of her Jewish-American family in The Bronx, New York. Roberts has never revealed her father's name or released any other information about him.

TV and Film Career

Her acting career began in 1952 with a role on the TV series Studio One. She also appeared on such programs as The Naked City (1958-63), Ben Casey (1963), and The Defenders (1962 - 1963). In 1961, she made her film debut in Something Wild (1961) starring Carroll Baker. In 1968, she appeared in A Lovely Way to Die and No Way to Treat a Lady.

She also appeared in the 1970 cult film The Honeymoon Killers starring Shirley Stoler and Tony Lo Bianco. In 1971, Roberts appeared in three films, Otto Preminger's Such Good Friends, Alan Arkin's Little Murders, and A New Leaf. She acted in a Walter Matthau vehicle again in 1974's urban thriller The Taking of Pelham One Two Three.

In 1978, she starred 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).

Since then, she has usually been cast as a mother or mother-in-law. An example of this was when she played newsstand owner, Theresa Falco, mother of Donna Pescow on Angie. After Angie was cancelled, she appeared as "Mildred Krebs" on Remington Steele, which starred Pierce Brosnan and Stephanie Zimbalist. After that show's cancellation, 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) with Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo. She also appeared on Alice, playing the title character (played by former Broadway co-star Linda Lavin's) mother, as well as Danny Tanner's mother on Full House.

Doris Roberts has become best-known and achieved national fame for her role as the nosy, insufferable, manipulative Marie Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond. She reportedly beat out 100 other actresses for the role. [1]

For her work on the series, she has been nominated for seven Emmy Awards (and won four times) for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.

She also won an Emmy for a guest role on St. Elsewhere as a homeless woman, and was nominated once for Remington Steele. She was also nominated for appearances on the ABC sitcom Perfect Strangers and a PBS special called The Sunset Gang. In 2003, she made a guest appearance as Gordo's grandmother in the Disney series, Lizzie McGuire. The same year, Roberts received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In 2006, she starred in the Adam Sandler-produced comedy Grandma's Boy alongside such other veteran actresses as Shirley Jones and Shirley Knight. In 2007, she made a guest appearance on Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

Stage career

Roberts' stage career began in the 1950s on Broadway. Roberts has appeared in numerous Broadway shows including the original productions of The Desk Set with Shirley Booth, Neil Simon's The Last of the Red Hot Lovers with James Coco and Linda Lavin as well as Terrence McNally's Bad Habits.

Personal life

Roberts' first husband was Michael Cannata; they divorced in 1962. Their son, Michael Cannata, Jr. is Roberts' manager, and is the father of her three grandchildren: Kelsey, Andrew, and Devon. Her second husband was writer William Goyen. She was married to Goyen from 1963 until his death from leukemia on August 30 1983 in Los Angeles.[2]

On September 4 2002, she testified before a U.S. Congressional panel that age discrimination is prevalent in Hollywood, advocating that such discrimination be treated on par with biases against race and gender.

As an avid cook, she wrote a book in 2005 titled Are You Hungry, Dear? Life, Laughs, and Lasagna, written with Danelle Morton and published by St. Martin's Press. She says of her book, "It's about sharing things I’ve learned that have changed my life."

In May of 2005, she received an honorary doctorate of fine arts from the University of South Carolina.

An animal lover and advocate, she has worked with a group called "Puppies Behind Bars" that 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 the ATF and other law enforcement agencies. She also is active with the Children with AIDS Foundation, of which she has served as the chairwoman.

She currently lives in Los Angeles in a house once owned by screen legend James Dean [1].

Emmy Award Nominations

For successful Emmy Awards, see the Infobox.

Unsuccessful nominations were :

Selected filmography

References

  1. ^ Everybody Loves Raymond
  2. ^ Biodata
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