Tony Roberts, stage and film actor who often starred in Woody Allen movies, dies at 85

NEW YORK — Tony Roberts, a versatile, Tony Award-nominated theater performer at home in both plays and musicals and who appeared in several Woody Allen movies — often as Allen’s best friend — has died.

NEW YORK — Tony Roberts, a versatile, Tony Award-nominated theater performer at home in both plays and musicals and who appeared in several Woody Allen movies — often as Allen’s best friend — has died. He was 85.

Roberts’ death was announced to The New York Times by his daughter, Nicole Burley.

Roberts had a genial stage personality perfect for musical comedy and he originated roles in such diverse Broadway musicals as “How Now, Dow Jones” (1967); “Sugar” (1972), an adaptation of the movie “Some Like It Hot,” and “Victor/Victoria” (1995), in which he co-starred with Julie Andrews when she returned to Broadway in the stage version of her popular film. He also was in the campy, roller-disco “Xanadu” in 2007 and “The Royal Family” in 2009.

Tony Roberts on May 16, 2000, in New York City.Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images file“I’ve never been particularly lucky at card games. I’ve never hit a jackpot. But I have been extremely lucky in life,” he write in his memoir, “Do You Know Me?” “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.”

Roberts also appeared on Broadway in the 1966 Woody Allen comedy “Don’t Drink the Water,” repeating his role in the film version, and in Allen’s “Play It Again, Sam” (1969), for which he also made the movie.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/obituaries/stage-film-actor-tony-roberts-dies-85-rcna191318

---