NEW YORK (AP) — Tony Roberts, a flexible, Tony Award-nominated theater performer at house in each performs and musicals and who appeared in a number of Woody Allen motion pictures — typically as Allen’s greatest good friend — has died. He was 85.
Roberts’ dying was introduced to The New York Instances by his daughter, Nicole Burley.
Roberts had a genial stage persona excellent for musical comedy and he originated roles in such numerous Broadway musicals as “How Now, Dow Jones” (1967); “Sugar” (1972), an adaptation of the film “Some Like It Hot,” and “Victor/Victoria” (1995), through which he co-starred with Julie Andrews when she returned to Broadway within the stage model of her widespread 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 through which Roberts appeared had 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 again and again — even after the movie had been edited — to get his supposed 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 had 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.
Considered one of Roberts’ greatest Broadway successes was Charles Busch’s hit comedy “The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife” (2000), through 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 substitute in a few of its longest-running hits together with “Barefoot in the Park,” “Promises, “Guarantees,” “They’re Enjoying Our Tune,” “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 instructed 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 embody the short-lived sequence “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 instructed 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 led to 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 value casting. In line with his memoir, Allen instructed him, “You were great. How come you’re such a lousy auditioner?”
