|
|
After nine years as Marie Barone on EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND, which brought her international accolades as the most popular comedic actress in television, Doris Roberts continues with a series of new milestones that get better and better as each year unfolds. Immediately after shooting the heralded last segment of ‘Raymond,’ the indomitable actress went into two new motion pictures, starring opposite Garry Marshall in Miramax Films' KEEPING UP WITH THE STEINS and playing the title role in GRANDMA'S BOY for Adam Sandler's production company Happy Madison.
With an illustrious career of achievement in theatre, films and television that has earned her distinctive stature throughout the entire entertainment profession, Doris Roberts, in 2001 was selected by the prestigious American Film Institute as one of five actresses of the year. She went on to receive her fifth Emmy® Award, Television’s pre-eminent recognition of artistry, four for her role as the beloved, but meddlesome, mother on the popular CBS series EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND and an earlier Emmy for ST. ELSEWHERE among 12 Emmy® nominations for both dramatic and comedic work on REMINGTON STEELE, FULL HOUSE and THE SUNSET GANG. Throughout those distinctive television achievements, Doris has been a three-time winner of the Viewers for Quality Television award, the 2001 TV Guide Award, the 2000 Beautiful People Award and in the same year was named Best Actress in A Comedy role by the American Comedy Awards. Additionally, for her stage performance in “24 Hours,” she received the Los Angeles Weekly Award. To celebrate a lifetime of achievement, on March l0, 2003, the versatile actress was immortalized with her own Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and, in April of that year, St. Martin’s Press published her best-selling memoirs, “Are You Hungry, Dear”. And, in 2004, she added to these laurels when she was selected as one of the five leading comedy actresses on television by the Screen Actors Guild.
Doris knew she would become a professional actress when she made her debut at the age of six, portraying a potato in a school play. Supported in her theatrical ambitions by her mother, she was taken as a young girl to Broadway matinees, where she stood in back of the theater carefully studying the performers she saw and dreaming to be one of them. That dream came true in l955 when Doris debuted on Broadway in William Saroyan’s classic “The Time of Your Life” and the following year was asked to understudy one of the great ladies of the American stage, Shirley Booth, in “Desk Set.” Even with that impressive recognition of her innate acting abilities, she decided she needed professional training and joined the famed Actors Studio, where her peer students were also to become illustrious performers, among them Marilyn Monroe, Kim Stanley and Maureen Stapleton.
The New York theatre continued to beckon the young actress, who subsequently appeared both on and off Broadway in numerous successful productions, including “It’s Only a Play,” “The American Dream,” “The Death of Bessie Smith,” “The Office,” “Marathon 33,” “The Color of Darkness,” “The Secret Affairs of Mildred Wild,” “The Natural Look,” “Last of the Red Hot Lovers,” “Cheaters” and “Bad Habits,” for which she won the Outer Critics Circle Award.
Lily Tomlin coaxed Doris away from Broadway to join her comedy series, THE LILY TOMLIN COMEDY HOUR, initiating a new and thriving career in television. Doris became one of the medium’s most successful stars as a series regular on 7 series including REMINGTON STEELE and, of course, for the past nine seasons on EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND. Coincidentally, Doris also managed to fit in guest starring roles on over 50 television series.
Producers of movies for television were quick to take advantage of the actress’ popularity and wooed her for key roles in 28 television movies.
Moving onto the big screen, Doris drew even more accolades for her diverse roles in 34 feature films including DICKIE ROBERTS: FORMER CHILD STAR and the upcoming LUCKY 13, GRANDMA'S BOY and KEEPING UP WITH THE STEINS.
While most performers might begin to rest on their laurels, Doris Roberts continues to shine in her craft. With a hefty weekly schedule on EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND, she also managed to star in two movies for television, racking up rave reviews for a dramatic role as a woman approaching Alzheimer’s disease in A TIME TO REMEMBER for Hallmark Channel and RAISING WAYLON for CBS. In between, she even managed to have some fun with her love for games, appearing as a regular with her friend Whoopi Goldberg on HOLLYWOOD SQUARES and accepting a very special role written for her on the popular TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL.
She also manages to devote what free time she has to community service as a Founder and active supporter of the charities Children Affected By AIDS and Puppies Behind Bars. For three years in a row she has turned producer to create “A Night of Comedy,” gathering the top comedy stars in their field to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for Children Affected By AIDS. With Puppies Behind Bars, she has helped to create a new sense of humanity for prison inmates by providing them with pets and a sense of normal responsibility.
She is also a formidable fighter for the rights of fellow actors in the continuing battle against ageism. In mid-2002 she made international headlines when she testified before U.S. Senator John Breaux’s Special Committee on Ageism” in Washington, D. C. The spirited actress was quoted throughout the international electronic and print media when she observed that the bulk of the Senators to whom she was addressing were in their mid sixties or over and said, “Gentlemen, If you were in my business you would be out of a job” then admitted, “I’m 7l and I’m still kicking.” And is she ever. Even with her incredible schedule, she happily responded to the U.S. Department of State, becoming a Cultural Ambassador and traveling to underdeveloped countries throughout the world to speak to youth about hope, for which she was honored in late 2004 by Secretary of State Colin Powell in ceremonies in Washington, D. C.
When, in 2005, the University of South Carolina announced she was to be presented with an Honorary Doctorate, her granddaughter, Kelsey, commented, “It’s just not fair, I have to go through four years of college and then another four years of graduate school to get my degree; you just have to get on a plane and go to S. Carolina.” “But,” replied the venerable actress, “I had to spend 50 years of hard work to get mine.”
Some may call this indefatigable worker an actress who has done it all, but Doris insists “There’s always a new challenge around the corner and I’ll be ready when it comes.”
|
