Actor Tony Roberts, best known for his work with Woody Allen, died on Feb. 7. He was 85. The native New Yorker, the son of a radio announcer and an animator, made his Broadway debut in 1961’s Take Her, She’s Mine, and went on to appear in such shows as Barefoot in the Park, Don’t Drink the Water, How Now Dow Jones, Promises Promises, Play it Again Sam, Sugar, and many others. Roberts costarred in the Woody Allen films Annie Hall, Radio Days, Stardust Memories, Hannah and Her Sisters, and A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy. With his chipper demeanor, head of curly sandy hair, and guy-next-door looks, he played a great Mary to Allen’s Rhoda. He also appeared in Star Spangled Girl, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, Serpico, Night Gallery, and many others. Robert said of his introduction to Woody Allen, “I auditioned for his first play, Don’t Drink the Water, no less than four times. Finally, David Merrick told Woody to come see me in Barefoot in the Park. I had replaced Robert Reed, who had replaced Robert Redford, in the role of Paul. After the show one night, Woody walks in to my dressing room with his then-wife, Louise Lasser, and says ‘You were great. How come you’re such a lousy auditioner?’ I still don’t have a good answer for that. But I got the part in Don’t Drink the Water.”
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