LOS ANGELES, Apr 19: Five-time Emmy winner Doris Roberts, who delighted audiences as the meddling mother next door on “Everybody Loves Raymond”, has died.
Roberts died Sunday night in her sleep of natural causes in Los Angeles, her representative Janet Daily said, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
In 1996, Roberts landed the part of Marie Barone on “Everybody Loves Raymond”, playing Ray’s mom and the wife of the cranky Frank (Peter Boyle).
She was with the hit CBS sitcom for every one of the show’s nine seasons, covering 210 episodes.
She was scheduled to appear at an “Everybody Loves Raymond” reunion in June in Austin.
“Truly the end of an era,” Patrica Heaton, who did battle with Roberts as daughter-in-law Debra on the show, wrote on Twitter.
“My wonderful TV mother-in-law and ELR nemesis Doris Roberts was a consummate professional from whom I learned so much. She was funny and tough and loved life, living it to the fullest.”
Roberts once said she based Marie on a combination of Romano’s mother, an Italian, and series producer Phil Rosenthal’s mom, a German Jew.
Wrote Rosenthal on Twitter, “We loved our mom, the great #DorisRoberts. A wonderful, funny, indelible actress and friend.”
“Doris Roberts had an energy and a spirit that amazed me,” Romano said in a statement.
“She never stopped. Whether working professionally or with her many charities, or just nurturing and mentoring a green young comic trying to make it as an actor, she did everything with such a grand love for life and people.”
Roberts excelled in motherly roles throughout her career.
She played Donna Pescow’s mother on the 1979-80 ABC series “Angie”, created by Garry Marshall, and joined NBC’s “Remington Steele” as Mildred Krebs, the receptionist for the detective agency run by Pierce Brosnan and Stephanie Zimbalist, in 1983. She stayed with the show through 1987.
Roberts also won another Emmy in 1983 for a stint on “St Elsewhere”.
She received 11 nods in all, three more for “Everybody Loves Raymond”, one for “Remington Steele” and one apiece for “Perfect Strangers” and “American Playhouse”.
Her big-screen resume included “Something Wild” (1961), Barefoot in the Park (1967), The Honeymoon Killers (1969), “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” (1989) and “Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star” (2003).
Her marriage to novelist and short story writer William Goyen lasted 22 years until he died of leukemia in 1983 at age 68.
Survivors include her son Michael, daughter-in-law Jane and grandchildren Kelsey, Andrew and Devon. (PTI)
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