Doris Roberts

Doris Roberts began her acting career in 1948 with a role on the television series Studio One. She later appeared in episodes of The Naked City (1958-1963), Way Out (1961), The Defenders (1962-1963) and Ben Casey (1963). She made her film debut in Something Wild (1961).

Roberts appeared in the films A Lovely Way to Die, No Way to Treat a Lady, The Honeymoon Killers, Such Good Friends, Little Murders, A New Leaf, The Heartbreak Kid (1972), The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974), Hester Street and Rabbit Test. In 1967, she had an uncredited role as a maid in Barefoot in the Park. She appeared in Ruby and Oswald (1978) as Jack Ruby's sister and had a brief role in The Rose (1979) as the mother of Bette Midler's character.

Roberts guest starred in All in the Family in 1976 as a bar patron who befriended Edith. She appeared on Alice as the mother of the title character, played by her former Broadway co-star Linda Lavin. She also appeared on Barney Miller in two different roles, including the wife of a man who secretly visited a sex surrogate and, in three episodes, the harried wife of a middle-aged man. Roberts played Flo Flotsky in four episodes of Soap and Dorelda Doremus on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. She played Theresa Falco on Angie and appeared as Mildred Krebs on Remington Steele from 1983 to 1987.

Following Remington Steele, Roberts appeared in If It's Tuesday, It Still Must Be Belgium (1987), Number One with a Bullet (1987), Simple Justice (1989), National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989) and Used People (1992). Her television credits during this period included Full House, in which she played Danny Tanner's mother, Claire; two episodes of Murder, She Wrote; and Step by Step, in which she played Aunt Edna.

Roberts played Marie Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond, which aired on CBS from 1996 to 2005. She received seven Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for the series and won the award four times. She previously won an Emmy Award for a guest appearance on St. Elsewhere, playing a homeless woman, and received an Emmy nomination for Remington Steele. She also received nominations for appearances on Perfect Strangers and the PBS special The Sunset Gang.

In 2003, Roberts appeared as Gordo's grandmother on Lizzie McGuire. In 2006, she starred in Our House and appeared in Grandma's Boy. She guest starred on Law & Order: Criminal Intent in 2007. Her 2009 film credits included Play the Game and Aliens in the Attic. That same year, she starred as Emily Merkle, also known as Mrs. Miracle, in the Hallmark television film Mrs. Miracle. She reprised the role in the sequel Call Me Mrs. Miracle (2010).

In 2010, Roberts appeared as Ms. Rinsky, Brick Heck's teacher, in The Middle. She returned for two additional episodes that season, "The Math Class" and "Back to Summer." In 2012, she played George Needleman's mother in Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection. In 2013, she appeared as a special guest star in the Major Crimes episode "There's No Place Like Home."

Roberts began her stage career on Broadway in the 1950s. Her Broadway credits included William Saroyan's The Time of Your Life, William Marchant's The Desk Set, Neil Simon's The Last of the Red Hot Lovers and Terrence McNally's Bad Habits. She also starred in McNally's Unusual Acts of Devotion at the LaJolla Playhouse in June 2009.


Roberts died on April 17, 2016, following a stroke, at age 90.