Tanya Roberts: James Bond star’s cause of death revealed
Tanya Roberts’ cause of death has been revealed by her publicist, shortly after it was confirmed that she had died following a premature announcement.
The star of A View to a Kill and That ‘70s Show died aged 65 at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, California, on Monday evening (6 January).
Her representative Mike Pingel told Metro that the cause of her death was “a urinary tract infection which spread to her kidney, gallbladder, liver and then blood stream”.
Pingel said an online memorial for Roberts would be announced shortly. In lieu of flowers, her family requested donations be given in her name to the ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals).
Roberts’ longterm partner Lance O’Brien issued an explanation on Tuesday 5 January as to how her death came to be announced prematurely.
Speaking to Page Six, O’Brien explained that the miscommunication had occurred after “blubbering” to Roberts’s representative over the phone about an “end of life” visit with her in the hospital.
“He goes, ‘What happened?’ And I say, ‘I just said goodbye to Tanya, and I got to see her beautiful eyes one last time.’ And after that, I’m just blubbering,” O’Brien said.
Insisting that he didn’t want to blame her publicist in “any way, shape or form”, O’Brien said that he truly believed Roberts had died.
By that point, doctors had taken her off life support and informed him that there was “no chance” she would make it.
Born Victoria Leigh Blum, Roberts had an early career in modelling and television adverts before appearing in the 1975 horror film Forced Entry.
Her most famous role was as Stacey Sutton, an American geologist who becomes targeted by villain Max Zorin (Christopher Walken), in Roger Moore’s final Bond film A View to a Kill.
She later said she believed there was a “curse” attached to the Bond girl role, telling the Daily Mail in 2015 that she suggested to her agent: “No one ever works after they get a Bond movie.”
However, she had success in a number of television performances, including a year as Julie Rogers in the fifth season of ABC’s Charlie’s Angels, and in the recurring role of Donna’s mother, Midge Pinciotti, on That ’70s Show.
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Tanya Roberts dies aged 65 after premature announcement
