NEW YORK (AP) — Tony Roberts, a flexible, Tony Award-nominated theater performer at dwelling in each performs and musicals and who appeared in a number of Woody Allen motion pictures — typically as Allen’s finest buddy — has died. He was 85.
Roberts’ dying was introduced to The New York Occasions by his daughter, Nicole Burley.
Roberts had a genial stage persona good for musical comedy and he originated roles in such various Broadway musicals as “How Now, Dow Jones” (1967); “Sugar” (1972), an adaptation of the film “Some Like It Hot,” and “Victor/Victoria” (1995), during which he co-starred with Julie Andrews when she returned to Broadway within the stage model of her well-liked movie. He additionally was within the campy, roller-disco “Xanadu” in 2007 and “The Royal Family” in 2009.
“I’ve never been particularly lucky at card games. I’ve never hit a jackpot. But I have been extremely lucky in life,” he write in his memoir, “Do You Know Me?” “Unlike many of my pals, who didn’t know what they wanted to become when they grew up, I knew I wanted to be an actor before I got to high school.”
Roberts additionally appeared on Broadway within the 1966 Woody Allen comedy “Don’t Drink the Water,” repeating his position within the movie model, and in Allen’s “Play It Again, Sam” (1969), for which he additionally made the film.
Different Allen movies during which Roberts appeared have been “Annie Hall” (1977), “Stardust Memories” (1980), “A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy” (1982), “Hannah and Her Sisters” (1986) and “Radio Days” (1987).
“Roberts’ confident onscreen presence — not to mention his tall frame, broad shoulders and brown curly mane — was the perfect foil for Allen’s various neurotic characters, making them more funny and enjoyable to watch,” The Jewish Each day Ahead wrote in 2016.
In Eric Lax’s guide “Woody Allen: A Biography,” Roberts recalled a sophisticated scene in “A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy” that Allen shot time and again — even after the movie had been edited — to get his meant impact.
“When you go back to see (Allen’s work) two, three, four times, you begin to see the amazing amount of art in it, that nothing is accidental,” Roberts stated.
Amongst his different motion pictures have been “Serpico” (1973) and “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three” (1974).
He was nominated twice for a Tony Award — for “How Now, Dow Jones” and “Play It Again, Sam,” when he was billed as Anthony Roberts.
Certainly one of Roberts’ greatest Broadway successes was Charles Busch’s hit comedy “The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife” (2000), during which he performed the title character’s husband.
Roberts, who made his Broadway debut in 1962 within the short-lived “Something About a Soldier,” additionally was a alternative in a few of its longest-running hits together with “Barefoot in the Park,” “Promises, “Guarantees,” “They’re Taking part in Our Music,” “Jerome Robbins’ Broadway,” “The Sisters Rosensweig” and the 1998 Roundabout Theatre Company revival of “Cabaret.”
“I was lucky enough to get in on the last years of the Golden Age of Broadway. In that era there was a lot more going on that seemed to have high quality about it and great conviction,” he informed Broadway World in 2015.
In London, he starred with Betty Buckley within the West Finish manufacturing of “Promises, Promises,” enjoying the Jack Lemmon position on this stage model of “The Apartment.”
Roberts’ tv credit embrace the short-lived collection “The Four Seasons” (1984) and “The Lucie Arnaz Show” (1985) in addition to visitor spots on such well-known exhibits as “Murder, She Wrote” and “Law & Order.”
Roberts was born in New York on Oct. 22, 1939, the son of radio and tv introduced Ken Roberts.
“I was raised in the middle of a lot of actor talk,” he informed the AP in 1985. “My cousin was Everett Sloane, who was a very fine actor. My father’s friends were mostly actors. I’m sure that in some way I needed to prove myself in their eyes.”
He attended the Excessive Faculty of Music and Artwork in New York and graduated from Northwestern College in Illinois.
His marriage to Jennifer Lyons resulted in divorce. He’s survived by his daughter, the actor Nicole Burley.
He first met Allen backstage when he was starring in “Barefoot in the Park,” having changed Robert Redford. Roberts had unsuccessfully auditioned 4 occasions for Allen’s first Broadway play, “Don’t Drink the Water.” Seeing Roberts carry out in “Barefoot in the Park” satisfied Allen that Roberts was price casting. In keeping with his memoir, Allen informed him, “You were great. How come you’re such a lousy auditioner?”
