Doris Roberts was an actress best known for her role as the meddling mother next door on the CBS sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond. She played Marie Barone, doting mother to Ray Barone, played by Ray Romano; monster mother-in-law to Debra Barone, played by Patricia Heaton; and nagging wife to Frank Barone played by Peter Boyle.
Roberts played Marie for the full nine-season, 210-episode run of the series, from 1996 to 2005. She was nominated for an Emmy Award seven times for her performance, winning four times in the category of best supporting actress (2001, 2002, 2003, 2005). Prior to landing the memorable role of Marie, Roberts was nominated for an Emmy four other times, winning one in 1983, in the category of best supporting actress in a drama series, for the NBC medical drama St. Elsewhere.
She often played mothers, and once said that she based Marie on a combination of Romano’s mother, an Italian, and series producer Phil Rosenthal’s mom, a German Jew.
Her numerous other television credits included parts on the series Ben Casey, Naked City, Mary Tyler Moore, Baretta, Medical Center, All in the Family, The Streets of San Francisco, Family, Rhoda, Soap, Barney Miller, Fantasy Island, Alice, The Love Boat, Cagney & Lacey, Perfect Strangers, Full House, Step by Step, Dream On, The King of Queens, Touched by an Angel, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Grey’s Anatomy, The Middle, Hot in Cleveland and Desperate Housewives.
She also had a recurring role on the series Angie, as Theresa Falco, mother to the title character, played by Donna Pescow. And on the series Remington Steele she played Mildred Krebs, receptionist for the detective agency run by Pierce Brosnan and Stephanie Zimbalist. She joined the show in 1983, for season two, and remained through 1987.
Roberts also appeared in films, including Barefoot in the Park, with Robert Redford and Jane Fonda; Divorce American Style, with Dick Van Dyke and Debbie Reynolds; The Rose, starring Bette Midler; National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, starring Chevy Chase; and My Giant, starring Billy Crystal.
Roberts made her Broadway debut in 1955 in The Time of Your Life, written by William Saroyan, and appeared in The Desk Set that same year. She left New York in 1975, after Lily Tomlin saw her in the Terrence McNally play Bad Habits and persuaded her to move to California to join The Lily Tomlin Comedy Hour.
In 2005, Roberts wrote the autobiography Are You Hungry, Dear?: Life, Laughs and Lasagna. She was married to novelist and short story writer William Goyen until his death in 1983.
Roberts died April 17, 2016, in Los Angeles. She was 90.
