Tony Roberts (actor)
{{Short description|American actor (1939–2025)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Tony Roberts
| image = Tony Roberts (46864137585) (cropped).jpg
| caption = Roberts in 2019
| birth_name = David Anthony Roberts
| birth_date = {{birth date|1939|10|22}}
| birth_place = New York City, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2025|02|07|1939|10|22}}
| death_place = New York City, U.S.
| othername =
| height = 6'1"
| occupation = Actor
| yearsactive = 1962–2017
| spouse = {{marriage|Jennifer Lyons|1969|1975|end=div}}
| children = 1
}}
David Anthony Roberts (October 22, 1939 – February 7, 2025) was an American actor known for his roles on stage and screen. He is best known for his collaborations with filmmaker Woody Allen, having acted in six of his films, most notably Annie Hall (1977).
Roberts also acted in films by Sidney Lumet, Blake Edwards, and Herbert Ross. On stage, he made his Broadway debut in the Ernest Kinoy play Something About a Soldier (1962). He received two Tony Award nominations for his supporting roles in the musical comedy How Now, Dow Jones (1968) and Woody Allen's comedic play Play It Again, Sam (1969).
Early life and education
Roberts was born in Manhattan, New York City, the son of radio announcer Ken Roberts and Norma (née Finkelstein), an animator.{{cite web|url=http://www.broadway.com/gen/Buzz_Star_File.aspx?ci=518664 |title=Tony Roberts, Star File: Broadway.com Buzz |publisher=Broadway.com |date=2011-03-19 |access-date=2011-08-22}}{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/27/AR2009062702344.html |title=Golden-Throated Announcer Introduced Soap Operas |newspaper=Washington Post|date= 2009-06-28|access-date=2011-08-22 |first=T. Rees |last=Shapiro}} His family was Jewish.{{cite web|url=http://www.thevillager.com/villager_96/deathrattleoftheworld.html |title=Death rattle of the world – with laughs |publisher=Thevillager.com |access-date=2011-08-22}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-2391203.html|title=Tony Roberts Best of Friends With Success: 'Victor/Victoria' - Jewish Exponent | HighBeam Research|date=May 17, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110517011045/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-2391203.html|access-date=Sep 5, 2020|archive-date=2011-05-17}}{{Cite web|url=https://jewishjournal.com/culture/arts/hollywood/181275/woody-allens-sidekick-shares-all/|title=Woody Allen's sidekick shares all|date=Jan 14, 2016|website=Jewish Journal|access-date=Sep 5, 2020}} Roberts attended the High School of Music & Art[https://alumniandfriends.org/our-community/notable-alumni/ "Notable Alumni,"] Alumni & Friends of LaGuardia High School website. Accessed Feb. 29, 2016. and Northwestern University, and he made his Broadway debut in 1962 with a role in the play Something About a Soldier.{{cite news |last1=Kennedy |first1=Mark |title=Stage and film actor Tony Roberts, who often starred in Woody Allen movies, dies at 85 |url=https://apnews.com/article/tony-roberts-dies-e4aef9f7fa10479ba73b5528816bc6da |publisher=Associated Press |date=February 7, 2025}}
== Career ==
File:Woody Allen - Sam.JPG. Third from left in front row is Tony Roberts; fourth from left is Woody Allen. Diane Keaton is on the far right. (1969)]]{{No citations section|date=February 2025}}
Roberts collaborated with Woody Allen. In Annie Hall, he portrayed Alvy Singer's best friend Rob. Other Allen movies and plays in which he appeared include both the Broadway and movie versions of Play It Again, Sam; Stardust Memories (1980), A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy (1982), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) and Radio Days (1987). In 2001, Roberts appeared in Allen's respective segment for The Concert for New York City.
Roberts portrayed Deputy Mayor Warren LaSalle in The Taking of Pelham One Two Three. He also appeared in the Sidney Lumet movies Serpico and Just Tell Me What You Want. In a rare, big-screen leading role, Roberts starred in the 1983 horror movie Amityville 3-D as John Baxter, a deeply skeptical tabloid journalist who buys a haunted house. He appeared opposite George Burns (as his son) in 1988's Eighteen Again!, and co-starred in the horror-dark comedy Popcorn as Professor Davis, and in Blake Edwards's situation comedy Switch as Arnold Freidkin, both 1991 theatrical releases. Roberts also appeared in the Walt Disney screwball comedy The Million Dollar Duck and the stage-to-screen adaptation of Star Spangled Girl, both 1971 (and both co-starring Sandy Duncan); Key Exchange and Le Sauvage, both 1985; 1986's Seize the Day; and 2005's Twelve and Holding.
Roberts's last theatrically released feature film role was as Jason Bateman's character's therapist in the 2014 independent romantic comedy-drama The Longest Week. His final made-for-television film portrayal was in the 2017 ABC production Dirty Dancing.
Roberts's Broadway credits include Barefoot in the Park; How Now, Dow Jones; Murder at the Howard Johnson's; Promises, Promises; Sugar (the musical version of the movie Some Like It Hot); The Sisters Rosensweig; They're Playing Our Song; Victor/Victoria; The Tale of the Allergist's Wife; Arsenic and Old Lace; and Cabaret. In 1998, he played Buddy Plummer in Stephen Sondheim's Follies at the Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey. In 2007, Roberts returned to Broadway in the musical Xanadu.
On television, Roberts was the third actor to play Lee Pollock on The Edge of Night.{{Citation needed |date=June 2024}} He appeared in numerous television series such as The Carol Burnett Show, Matlock, Law & Order, and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. In 1977, he was featured, alongside Squire Fridell, as a lead in the short-lived NBC legal drama Rosetti and Ryan.
In 1978, he guest-starred on The Love Boat. Roberts and Lauren Tewes's character, cruise ship director Julie McCoy, fall in love, but in the end do not pursue a romantic relationship. Roberts was featured (with Penny Fuller, who had played his wife on The Edge of Night) on the ABC comedy The Thorns. He was a regular performer on the CBS Radio Mystery Theater. Roberts also recorded many of the audiobook adaptations of Stuart Woods's novels. His other audiobook credits include Andrew Vachss's Batman: The Ultimate Evil, Kurt Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle, and Spencer Johnson's Who Moved My Cheese?.
Personal life
Roberts died of lung cancer at his Manhattan home on February 7, 2025, at the age of 85.{{cite web |last1=Gates |first1=Anita |title=Tony Roberts, Nonchalant Fixture in Woody Allen Films, Dies at 85 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/07/movies/tony-roberts-dead.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=February 7, 2025}}
Acting credits
=Film=
| class="wikitable sortable"
! Year ! Title ! Role ! Director ! Notes ! class=unsortable| Ref. |
| 1971
| Fred Hines | | {{cite web |title= Tony Roberts|url= https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0731634/|access-date= February 13, 2025|publisher= IMDB}} |
| 1971
| Andy Hobart | |
| 1972
| Dick | |
| 1973
| Serpico | Bob Blair | |
| 1974
| The Taking of Pelham One Two Three | Warren LaSalle | |
| 1975
| Alex Fox | |
| 1977
| Rob | |
| 1980
| Mike Berger | Sidney Lumet | |
| 1980
|Tony | rowspan=2|Woody Allen | |
| 1982
| A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy | Maxwell | |
| 1983
| John Baxter | |
| 1985
| David Slattery | |
| 1986
| Norman | Woody Allen | |
| 1986
| Bernie Pell | |
| 1987
| "Silver Dollar" Emcee | Woody Allen | |
| 1988
| Arnie Watson | Paul Flaherty | |
| 1991
| Popcorn | Professor Davis | |
| 1991
| Switch | Arnold Freidkin | |
| 1996
| Apologies to Buñuel | Steve | Debbie Elbin | |
| 1998
| Dead Broke | Walter | |
| 2001
| My Best Friend's Wife | Mr. Epstein | Doug Finelli | |
| 2005
| Doctor | |
| 2006
| Well Fed and Comfortable | Mr. Barnes | Lou Howe | Short film |
| 2013
| An Anomaly | Performer | Charlie Scharfman | Short film |
| 2014
| Barry the Therapist | Peter Glanz | |
= Television =
| class="wikitable"
! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes |
| 1965
|Charlie |1 episode |
| 1965, 1966
|2 episodes |
| 1969
|A Guide for the Married Man |Ed Stander |TV movie |
| 1970
|Men at Law |Jack Halbert |1 episode |
| 1971
|Chris |1 episode |
| 1971
|Dr. Morris Levine |1 episode |
| 1975
|Jerry |1 episode |
| 1976
|The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case |Lt. Jim Finn |TV movie |
| 1976
|Snafu |Conroy |TV movie |
| 1977
|Philip Bainbridge |1 episode |
| 1978, 1979
|Jack Chenault |3 episodes |
| 1979
|Mike Holden |TV movie |
| 1980
|If Things Were Different |Michael Boden |TV movie |
| 1982
|A Question of Honor |Marlowe |TV movie |
| 1983
|Charlie Baumgartner |TV movie |
| 1983, 1985
|Lawrence Kolleeny / Dr. Jerry Kulyn |2 episodes |
| 1984
|Ted Bolen |13 episodes |
| 1985
|Thad Holcombe |1 episode |
| 1985
|Jim Gordon |6 episodes |
| 1985
|Brian Fox |1 episode |
| 1987
|A Different Affair |Jeffrey Newman |TV movie |
| 1988
|Sloan Thorn |12 episodes |
| 1991
|Guy Palmer |1 episode |
| 1991
|Various skit characters |2 episodes |
| 1991, 1994, 1998, 2010 |Lucas Pollard / Nicholas Bennett |4 episodes |
| 1991
|Harry |TV movie |
| 1992
|Devon "Sonny" Lane |1 episode |
| 1993
|Not in My Family |Psychotherapist |TV movie |
| 1993
|Jesse Livermore |TV movie |
| 1994
|Dr. Eisenstein |1 episode |
| 1995
|The Case of the Jealous Jokester |Ted Joplin |Perry Mason TV movie |
| 1995
|Carol "Toddy" Todd |TV movie |
| 2001
|The Concert for New York City |Man on Bench |Segment: "Sounds from a Town I Love" |
| 2001
|Narrator |1 episode |
| 2004
|Martin Wagner |1 episode |
| 2008
|Ziggy Gold |1 episode |
| 2015
|Dinner with Family with Brett Gelman and Friends |Tony Roberts / Himself |TV movie |
| 2017
|Max Kellerman |TV movie |
= Theater =
| class="wikitable"
! Year ! Title ! Role ! Venue ! Ref. |
| 1962
|Air Cadet / a Soldier |Ambassador Theatre, Broadway |
| 1964
|The Last Analysis |Max |Belasco Theatre, Broadway |
| 1965
|Paul Bratter |Biltmore Theatre, Broadway |
| 1966–1968
|Axel Magee |Morosco Theatre, Broadway |
| 1967–1968
|Charlie |Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, Broadway |
| 1969–1970
|Dick Christie |Broadhurst Theatre, Broadway |
| 1970
|Chuck Baxter |Shubert Theatre, Broadway |
| 1972–1973
|Joe |Majestic Theatre, Broadway |
| 1974–1976
|Geoffrey |Music Box Theatre, Broadway |
| 1979–1981
|Vernon Hersch |Imperial Theatre, Broadway |
| 1979
|Murder at the Howard Johnson's |Mitchell Lavell |John Golden Theatre, Broadway |
| 1985–1986
|Doubles |George |Ritz Theatre, Broadway |
| 1986–1987
|Mortimer Brewster |46th Street Theatre, Broadway |
| 1989–1990
|The Setter / Emcee / Pseudolus |Imperial Theatre, Broadway |
| 1992–1993
|Dr. Dorn |Lyceum Theatre, Broadway |
| 1994
|Mervyn Kant |Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Broadway |
| 1995–1997
|Carroll "Toddy" Todd |Marquis Theatre, Broadway |
| 2000–2002
|The Tale of the Allergist's Wife |Ira |Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Broadway |
| 2003–2004
|Herr Schultz |Studio 54, Broadway |
| 2005
|Hamm |Irish Repertory Theatre, Off-Broadway |
| 2006
|Victor Velasco |Cort Theatre, Broadway |
| 2007–2008
|Danny Maguire / Zeus |Helen Hayes Theatre, Broadway |
| 2009
|Oscar Wolfe |Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, Broadway |
= Radio =
| class="wikitable"
! Year ! Title ! scope="col" width="450px" | Role ! Notes |
| 1974–1982
| Officer / Dan / Ned Murray / Prof. Steve Ramsey / Bill / Peter Jackson / David / Salvador / Harry / Steve / James Blake / Todd Stearns / Hugh / Mike Slater / Cash Haliday / Billy Chapman / Peter Carlsen / Tim Lang / Tom Porter / Bobby Boyle / Stuart Belden / Dr. Harold W. Smiley / John Surratt / Ted / various other characters |82 episodes |
Awards and nominations
- How Now, Dow Jones — Nominee — Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical (1968)
- Play It Again, Sam — Nominee — Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play (1969)
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|731634|Tony Roberts}}
- {{tcmdb name|id=162941|name=Tony Roberts}}
- {{IBDB name|58006}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20121005081236/http://www.lortel.org/LLA_archive/index.cfm?search_by=people&keyword=name&first=Tony&last=Roberts&middle= Tony Roberts] at Internet Off-Broadway Database
- {{discogs artist|Tony Roberts (9)}}
- [https://soundcloud.com/american-theatre-wing/episode98 Tony Roberts] - Downstage Center interview at American Theatre Wing.org
- Tony Roberts [https://web.archive.org/web/20081021032250/http://www.observer.com/2007/roberts-rules-his-roost article in The New York Observer]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Tony}}
Category:21st-century American Jews
Category:American male film actors
Category:American male musical theatre actors
Category:American male stage actors
Category:American male television actors
Category:Deaths from lung cancer in New York (state)
Category:Jewish American male actors
Category:Male actors from Manhattan