Actress Tanya Roberts, best known for her role in a James Bond film and the TV comedy ‘That 70s Show,’ has died at age 65, her publicist said Tuesday morning following two days of confusion that stemmed from a premature report of her death.
Roberts had been hospitalized after she collapsed on Dec. 24 following a walk with her dogs. Her publicist said her longtime partner received a call from the hospital Monday night confirming her death.
The confusing chain of events in her final hours began Sunday after her representative said Roberts died in the hospital after collapsing at her home. Her partner, Lance O'Brien, had called rep Mike Pingel after hospital staff told him to say his final goodbyes.
O'Brien visited Roberts at the hospital around 3 p.m. Sunday, then called Robert's representative. Pingel then reported Roberts' death to multiple outlets, including confirming her death to NBCLA.
TMZ first reported her death, including a statement from O'Brien.
The next day, her representative confirmed she was still alive and hospitalized. O'Brien had received a call around 10 a.m. Monday from Cedars Sinai hospital in Los Angeles during an interview with "Inside Edition" saying she was still alive, and did not die the night before, Pingel told NBCLA Monday.
Pingel said O'Brien truly believed that Roberts had died on Sunday, even saying he was holding her as she died.
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On Tuesday, O'Brien and Pingel confirmed to NBC News that Roberts died Monday. O'Brien said Roberts went in for a urinary tract infection that spread to her kidneys and gall bladder.
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Roberts, née Victoria Leigh Blum, starred as Bond girl Stacey Sutton opposite Roger Moore's 007 in the 1985 flick "A View to a Kill." She appeared in a number of campy genre films and comedies throughout the late 1970s and 1980s, including 1979's "Racquet," 1982's "The Beastmaster," 1984's "Sheena" and 1986's "Body Slam."
She is perhaps best known for her role on "That '70s Show" as Midge Pinciotti, mom to Laura Prepon's character Donna. The popular Fox sitcom ran for eight seasons before signing off in 2006.
Roberts was married to husband Barry Roberts from 1974 until he passed away in 2006. The couple had no children.
