Tanya Roberts arrives at the gala premiere of ‘Criss Angel Believe’ by Cirque du Soleil at the Luxor Resort & Casino October 31, 2008 in Las Vegas, Nevada. By then the longtime actress and model had retired from acting after caring for her husband of 32 years Barry Roberts until his passing in 2006 after a four and a half year battle with the brain swelling condition encephelitis.
Tanya was born Victoria Blum in the Bronx in 1955. She and Barry wed when she was just 19. After a modeling career, she was chosen out of over 2,000 hopefuls to join the ABC smash ‘Charlie’s Angels’ in 1980 as third angel Julie Rogers. Sadly by that point the show had wanted in popularity from it’s late 70s heyday and was cancelled.
She found success as a Bond girl, starring opposite Roger Moore in 1985’s ‘A View to a kill,’ which was his final film as 007. Tanya returned to the small screen in 1998 to play Laura Prepon’s character of Donna Piciotti’s mom on Fox’s ‘That 70s Show.’ She left the full time role after three seasons to care for her ailing husband Barry, yet returned for guest spots.
On Jan. 3, 2021, her husband Lance O’Brien claimed Tayna had passed away at age 65. He said she returned from walking their dogs on Christmas Eve 2020 and collapsed, despite not having any apparent illnesses. He said the was placed on a venhilator at Cedars Sinai Medical Center, but was eventually taken off it and passed away. On Jan. 4, her rep claimed that the hospital called Lance to let him know Tanya was in fact alive and not dead.
