DORIS ROBERTS, TELEVISION & ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVISM

Today, The Grandma has been reading about Doris Roberts, the American actress who was born on a day like today in 1925.

Doris May Roberts (November 4, 1925-April 17, 2016) was an American actress whose career spanned seven decades of television and film.

She received five Emmy Awards and a Screen Actors Guild award during her acting career, which began in 1951.

Roberts studied acting at The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City and started in films in 1961. She had several prominent roles in movies, including playing opposite Shirley Stoler in The Honeymoon Killers (1970), Elliott Gould in Little Murders (1971), Steven Keats in Hester Street (1975), Billy Crystal in Rabbit Test (1978), Robert Carradine in Number One with a Bullet (1987), and Cady McClain in Simple Justice (1989), among many others.

She achieved continuing success in television, becoming known for her role as Mildred Krebs in Remington Steele from 1983 to 1987 and her co-starring role as Raymond Barone's mother, Marie Barone, on the long-running CBS sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond (1996–2005).

In 2007, she made a guest appearance on Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

Towards the end of her acting career, she also had a prominent role opposite Tyler Perry in Madea's Witness Protection (2012).

She appeared as a guest on many talk and variety shows, as well as a panelist on several game shows. She was an advocate of animal rights and animal rights activism, supporting groups such as the United Activists for Animal Rights.

More information: The Wrap

Doris May Green was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to a family of Russian-Jewish immigrants. She was raised by her mother, Ann  and her maternal grandparents in The Bronx, New York, after her father, Larry Green, deserted the family. Roberts' stepfather, whose surname she took as her own, was Chester H. Roberts. Chester and Roberts' mother operated the Z.L. Rosenfield Agency, a stenographic service catering to playwrights and actors.

Roberts' acting career began in 1951 with a role on the TV series Studio One. She appeared in episodes of The Naked City (1958-1963), Way Out (1961), Ben Casey (1963), and The Defenders (1962-1963). In 1961, she made her film debut in Something Wild (1961).

Roberts' stage career began in the 1950s on Broadway. She appeared in numerous Broadway shows including William Marchant's The Desk Set (with Shirley Booth), Neil Simon's The Last of the Red Hot Lovers (with James Coco and Linda Lavin) and Terrence McNally's Bad Habits.

In May 2005, Roberts received an honorary doctorate of fine arts from the University of South Carolina. She was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor on May 7, 2011. She was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in February 2003, at 7021 Hollywood Blvd.

Roberts died in her sleep on April 17, 2016, at her home in Los Angeles following a stroke, at the age of 90. She had also suffered from pulmonary hypertension for many years before her death. 

Just a month after her death she was memorialized in New York City, where a public tribute was held at the Ambassador Theatre, where she appeared in 1972 in The Secret Affairs of Mildred Wild with Maureen Stapleton.

She was interred at Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park and Mortuary in Los Angeles, California.

More information: Los Angeles Times

With my talent, I can make people laugh
and give them another attitude about life.
What a blessing that is for me.

Doris Roberts