Marion Roberts

Marion "Kiki" Roberts, born Marion Strasmick in 1909 in Boston, Massachusetts, was an American dancer and showgirl who performed on Broadway and in various theatrical venues during the early twentieth century. Her mother was Martha Strasmick.

From childhood, Roberts harbored ambitions of fame, placing eighth in a children's beauty pageant at a young age. She was offered a contract to perform as a Ziegfeld girl early in her life, but her age prevented her from signing it at that time. At sixteen, she and her mother relocated from Boston to New York City in pursuit of a larger stage. By seventeen, she had secured a position as a Ziegfeld girl, fulfilling the opportunity that had eluded her earlier. She also worked at the Moritz, a nightclub operated by Texas Guinan.

Roberts appeared on Broadway in 1928 in the musical Whoopee. Her association with gangster Jack "Legs" Diamond, a prominent Irish-American bootlegger and mobster active during the 1920s and 1930s, brought her considerable public attention. The two became romantically involved, and Diamond assisted her in connecting with New York City choreographers to develop her dancing abilities. One account of their introduction involves a mutual acquaintance named Agnes O. Laughlin. Roberts is widely believed to have been among the last people to see Diamond before he was killed in December 1931. Both Roberts and Diamond's wife Alice were questioned during the subsequent murder investigation, though neither was considered a suspect.

In 1931, Roberts gave an interview to the Boston American newspaper, captured on film, in which she stated her intention to return to performing. By 1937, she was headlining a production called Crazy Quilt at the Allentown Lyric Theater in Allentown, Pennsylvania. In 1935, she made front-page news when comedian Jackie Gleason, who had been performing at The Oasis nightclub in Budd Lake, New Jersey, rescued her from drowning at Budd Lake. Photographs of the two appeared in New York tabloids following the incident. By 1940, Roberts had withdrawn from public life. She lived at some point in Menands, New York, and her date of death has not been established.

Roberts appears as a character in Legs, a novel by William Kennedy centered on Jack Diamond. She is portrayed by actress Amanda Greer in the 2019 biographical film The Last Day of Legs Diamond.