Tony Roberts, a renowned actor known for his roles on stage and screen, including several Woody Allen films, has passed away.
Tony, who was a Tony Award nominee, graced both plays and musicals on the big screen. He also featured in numerous Woody Allen films, frequently portraying Allen’s best friend, reports the Mirror. Tony’s daughter, Nicole Burley, announced his death as she paid tribute to the actor. The actor’s daughter informed The New York Times that her father had passed away due to complications from lung cancer.
He died at his Manhattan home on Friday at the age of 85.
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Throughout his career, he was involved in several Broadway theatre productions, including the musicals How Now Dow Jones, Sugar, and an adaptation of the film Some Like It Hot.
He also co-starred alongside Dame Julie Andrews for her return to Broadway in the stage version of the popular movie Victor/Victoria.
The stage and screen star was also in the 1966 Woody Allen comedy Don’t Drink the Water, a role he played in the film too. Tony acted in several Woody Allen movies, including Play It Again Sam, which he also performed in on stage.
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His work in the theatre saw him nominated for a Tony Award on two occasions; once for How Now, Dow Jones and another time for Play It Again, Sam.
Actor Tony featured in several Woody Allen movies like Annie Hall, Hannah and Her Sisters, Radio Days, Stardust Memories, and A Midsummer Night’s Sex Comedy. He also acted on television, appearing in The Four Seasons and The Lucie Aranz Show, along with guest roles in Murder, She Wrote and Law & Order.
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Though his close work with Woody Allen brought him success, Tony previously discussed the downside of working with the filmmaker. He told The Los Angeles Times in 1997: “I was always so vividly the guy Woody wrote, that everybody in the business — casting agents, for instance — would think of me that way.
“The persona I was for Woody is a hard thing to break out of,” he added. The actor was born in New York in October 1939. His father, Ken Roberts, was a television and radio announcer. Showbiz was very much a part of Tony Roberts’ family as he told AP in 1985: “I was raised in the middle of a lot of actor talk.
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“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 went on to attend the High School of Music and Art in New York before heading to Northwestern University in Illinois. Writing in his memoir, Do You Know Me, which was released in 2015, he looked over his career as he said: “I’ve never been particularly lucky at card games. I’ve never hit a jackpot. But I have been extremely lucky in life.”
Tony added: “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.”
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
