Tanya Roberts Biography

Tanya Roberts (Victoria Leigh Blum) is an American actress and producer, known for her role in 'A View to a Kill' and 'That '70s Show'. This biography profiles her childhood, family life, career, achievements, and gives some interesting facts.

Quick Facts

Birthday: October 15, 1955

Nationality: American

Famous: Actresses American Women

Age: 64 Years, 64 Year Old Females

Sun Sign: Libra

Born in: The Bronx, New York City, New York

Famous as: Actress

Height: 5'8" (173 cm), 5'8" Females

Family:

Spouse/Ex-: Barry Roberts (m. 1974–2006)

siblings: Barbara Chase

City: New York City

U.S. State: New Yorkers

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Tanya Roberts is an American actress and producer who gained a cult following due to her seductress image in erotica film genre throughout the 70s, 80s and 90s. After her appearance as a Bond girl in 1985’s film ‘A View to Kill’, she became Hollywood’s favourite femme fatale. Tanya started off as a model and an off-Broadway artist before embarking on a career as an actor. Earlier in her career, Tanya’s curvaceous body and sultry looks limited her to objectification in many of her films, but owing to substantial roles in films like ‘The Beastmaster’ and ‘Sheena: Queen of the Jungle’, she established herself as a beautiful woman capable of carrying an entire movie on her shoulders, though her acting skills were constantly criticized. Hollywood didn’t stop admiring her looks more than her talent and for the better part of the 90s Tanya got featured mostly in erotic thriller films. When films failed to provide her the respect she demanded and deserved for her acting abilities, she turned to television. She featured in ‘Charlie’s Angels’ and ‘That 70s Show’ - two popular TV shows that somehow redeemed her a little bit as a performer. But even then, Hollywood didn’t find her acting abilities suitable for high octane dramas and she kept appearing in horror and adult movies. She became a regular on ‘That 70s Show’ but had to leave it midway, due to her husband’s terminal illness.

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Tanya Roberts

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Childhood & Early Life

Tanya Roberts was born Victoria Leigh Blum on October 15, 1955 in Bronx, New York City. She has an older sister Barbara and the entire family lived in quite humble conditions. The family settled in Central Bronx, and her father supported the family by selling pens in Manhattan. After her parents divorced, Tanya said goodbye to Bronx and shifted with her mother to Canada.
Tanya realised the potential to become an actress in her early teens. She was a beautiful young girl and she started getting her portfolios done along with making plans for her future career. At a tender age of 15, she got married and embarked on a trip with her husband across the United States. Her mother tracked her down and had the marriage annulled.
This massive blow hit Tanya hard and she returned to the USA to pursue a career as a model and appeared on several fashion magazines’ cover. She then started training as an actor and honed her skills. Tanya said in an interview that she doesn’t take her troubled childhood as a curse, and those experiences made her a humble person and she is grateful for that.
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Career

In early 70s, Tanya Robert’s career started with small time ad films for brands such as Excedrin, Clairol and Cool ray sunglasses. What followed were some meaty roles in off-Broadway productions, but Tanya wasn’t satisfied with the work she was doing, due to low pay and exposure. In order to make the ends meet, she also worked as a dance instructor for a brief period of time.
A talent agency spotted her and offered her a role in a sleazy horror film ‘Forced Entry’ in 1975. More such roles followed; one of the most memorable ones was the role in film ‘Fingers’, a highly erotic cheesy production. Even after doing a few more such films, Tanya remained unknown for the most part, even after she got hired for ‘Charlie’s Angels’, the TV series.
Tanya was a replacement actor therein, and the show was cancelled just after a dozen episodes. Tanya spent a few more years in total anonymity and kept doing adult films in order to support herself. In 1982, ‘The Beastmaster’, a fantasy adventure film, came her way. It was, to some extent, way different than what she was being offered constantly at that time.
1980s turned out a bit different for her as she finally felt free from the clutches of low production B movies. She continued working in low budget films though, but they did have some content and offered opportunities for Tanya to show her skills. She featured in ‘Heart and Armour’ in 1983, which was an Italian hardcore adventure fantasy film.
In 1983, she appeared in ‘Murder You, Murder Me’ a television movie. She got the offer to star in a TV series pilot, but instead, she decided to go with ‘Sheena: Queen of the Jungle’, which turned out to be a colossal critical and commercial disaster. However, 1985 turned out to be a big year as she got the chance to play the Bond girl in ‘A View to Kill’. Her acting was criticized heavily.
For a long time after that, she continued appearing in erotic thrillers such as ‘Night Eyes’, ‘Body Slam’, ‘Inner Sanctum’ and ‘Sins of Desire’. In 1998, a big break arrived in form of a Sitcom ‘That 70s Show’, which she had to leave midway in 2001 due to the terminal illness of her husband and the show demanded her regular presence.
Tanya then appeared in small roles in a few TV series such as ‘Eve’ and ‘Barbershop’, but she mostly stayed away from limelight.

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Personal Life

Tanya has had a quite controversial love life. She fell in love with a ‘bohemian’ guy at the age of 15, and started living with him. Her mother had strong objections over her husband and the marriage ended eventually.
Tanya married Barry Roberts in 1974 and they remained together until he eventually passed away in 2006. Tanya resides in Hollywood Hills, California.

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Tanya Roberts Movies