Doris Roberts

Doris May Roberts (née Green; November 4, 1925 – April 17, 2016) was an American actress and comedian born in St. Louis, Missouri, to a family of Russian-Jewish immigrants. After her father, Larry Green, deserted the family, she was raised in The Bronx, New York, by her mother, Ann (née Meltzer), and her maternal grandparents. Her stepfather, Chester H. Roberts, provided the surname she carried throughout her career. Chester and her mother ran the Z. L. Rosenfield Agency, a stenographic service for playwrights and actors, and by her teens Roberts had developed a notable skill as a typist, assisting with the family business. Ruth Finley was among the agency's clients, and Roberts typed final copies of The Fashion Calendar for her. Roberts trained at The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City.

Roberts began her acting career in 1948 with a role on the television series Studio One. Her film debut came in 1961 with Something Wild, and she went on to appear in a substantial body of film work across the 1960s and 1970s. Notable roles included parts opposite Shirley Stoler in The Honeymoon Killers (1970), Elliott Gould in Little Murders (1971), and Steven Keats in Hester Street (1975). In 1967, she had an uncredited role as a maid in Barefoot in the Park alongside Robert Redford. In 1978, she appeared in Ruby and Oswald, a film about the assassination of John F. Kennedy, playing Jack Ruby's sister, and also appeared opposite Billy Crystal in Rabbit Test that same year. She had a brief role in The Rose as the mother of the title character, played by Bette Midler. Later film credits included Number One with a Bullet (1987) opposite Robert Carradine, Simple Justice (1989) with Cady McClain, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989), Used People (1992), and Madea's Witness Protection (2012) opposite Tyler Perry.

Roberts accumulated a wide range of television credits over her career. She appeared in episodes of The Naked City, Way Out, Ben Casey, and The Defenders during the early 1960s. In 1972, she was originally intended for the role of Vivian on Maude before Norman Lear approached her as a late replacement during the taping of an All in the Family episode; she later guest starred in the 1976 All in the Family episode "Edith's Night Out" as a bar patron who befriended Edith. She played the unhinged Flo Flotsky in four episodes of Soap and the faith healer Dorelda Doremus on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. On Alice, she played the mother of the title character, portrayed by her former Broadway co-star Linda Lavin. She appeared on Barney Miller in two distinct roles and played Theresa Falco on Angie. On Full House, she appeared as Danny Tanner's mother, Claire. Roberts won an Emmy Award for a guest appearance on St. Elsewhere, in which she played a homeless woman, and received additional Emmy nominations for her work on Remington Steele, Perfect Strangers, and a PBS special called The Sunset Gang.

From 1983 to 1987, Roberts played Mildred Krebs on NBC's Remington Steele. She achieved her greatest and most sustained recognition through her co-starring role as Marie Barone, the matriarch of the Barone family, on the CBS sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, which ran from 1996 to 2005. Roberts was reportedly among 100 actresses considered for the part. For the role, she received seven Emmy nominations and won four times for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, bringing her total Emmy wins to five. She also received a Screen Actors Guild award during her career. In 2003, Roberts was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7021 Hollywood Blvd. Later television work included a guest appearance on Law & Order: Criminal Intent in 2007, a recurring role as Ms. Rinsky on The Middle beginning with the second-season premiere on September 23, 2010, and a guest appearance on Major Crimes in 2013. The Middle role reunited her with Patricia Heaton, her co-star from Everybody Loves Raymond. Roberts also starred in the Hallmark television films Mrs. Miracle (2009) and its sequel, Call Me Mrs. Miracle (2010).

Roberts' stage career began in the 1950s on Broadway and extended through 1978. Her Broadway credits included William Saroyan's The Time of Your Life, William Marchant's The Desk Set with Shirley Booth, Terrence McNally's Bad Habits, the play The Secret Affairs of Mildred Wild, Dunelawn, Neil Simon's Last of the Red Hot Lovers with James Coco and Linda Lavin, and Cheaters. In June 2009, she appeared in McNally's Unusual Acts of Devotion at the LaJolla Playhouse.

Beyond performing, Roberts co-wrote a memoir and recipe collection, Are You Hungry, Dear? Life, Laughs, and Lasagna, with Danelle Morton, published by St. Martin's Press in 2003. She was an advocate for animal rights, working with Puppies Behind Bars, a program training inmates to raise guide dogs, assistance dogs, and explosives-detection dogs. She also served as chairwoman of the Children with AIDS Foundation. On September 4, 2002, Roberts testified before a U.S. Congressional panel on the prevalence of age discrimination in Hollywood. In May 2005, she received an honorary doctorate of fine arts from the University of South Carolina, and on May 7, 2011, she was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. Roberts married Michael Cannata in 1956; they divorced in 1962 and had a son together. Her second husband was writer William Goyen, whom she married in 1963. She had three grandchildren.