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Quick Facts
Biography
Roberta Maxwell (born c. 1942, Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian actress.
Background
Roberta Maxwell began studying for the stage around the age of 12. She joined John Clark for 2 years as the child co-host of his Junior Magazine series for CBC Television. She first performed at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in 1956.
Stratford Shakespeare Festival and England
She appeared as Ursula in Much Ado About Nothing, Lady Anne in Richard III, Olivia in Twelfth Night, and Anne in The Merry Wives of Windsor, before going on to England, where she spent three years in repertory. She made her West End debut with Robert Morley and Molly Picon in A Majority of One.
In 1982, she starred as Rosalind in the Stratford Festival's stage production of Shakespeare's As You Like It, a production which was videotaped and telecast on Canadian television in 1983. In 2011, she played the duchess of York in Richard III.
Broadway
She debuted on Broadway in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie in 1968, going on to five more plays with the Tyrone Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 1974 she was back on Broadway playing the role of Jill in Equus, which starred Anthony Hopkins.
TV and film
Those, and many more plays, took her on to a successful television and film career. She was particularly praised for her performance as Lavinia Mannon in the 1978 PBS adaption of Mourning Becomes Electra. In 2009 and 2010 she appeared in two episodes of the Syfy series Warehouse 13.
Filmography
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1968 | Great Big Thing, AA Great Big Thing | Eve | |
1979 | Rich Kids | Barbara Peterfreund | |
1980 | Changeling, TheThe Changeling | Eva Lingstrom | |
1980 | Popeye | Nana Oyl | |
1986 | Psycho III | Tracy Venable | |
1989 | Kingsgate | ||
1993 | Philadelphia | Judge Tate | |
1995 | Dead Man Walking | Lucille Poncelet | |
1997 | Fall | Joan Alterman | |
1997 | Postman, TheThe Postman | Irene March | |
1998 | Last Night | Mrs. Wheeler | |
1999 | Water Damage | Dr. Winfrey | |
2001 | Full Disclosure | Sarah Archer | Video |
2005 | Brokeback Mountain | Jack's Mother | |
2007 | Killing Floor, TheThe Killing Floor | Ms. Alimet (uncredited) | |
2014 | Hungry Hearts | Anne | |
2014 | What We Have |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1960 | Just Mary | (voice) | TV series |
1962 | Emergency-Ward 10 | Nurse Merritt | 2 episodes |
1965 | Festival | Ria Hennessy | Episode: "A Cheap Bunch of Nice Flowers" |
1974 | Touch of the Poet, AA Touch of the Poet | Sara Melody | TV movie |
1974 | Great Performances | Clara | Episode: "The Widowing of Mrs. Holroyd" |
1974 | Another World | Barbara Weaver | TV series |
1976 | Other Side of Victory, TheThe Other Side of Victory | TV movie | |
1978 | For the Record | Carol | Episode: "A Matter of Choice" |
1978 | Mourning Becomes Electra | Lavinia Mannon | TV miniseries |
1982 | Lois Gibbs and the Love Canal | Mary Belinski | TV movie |
1982 | Faerie Tale Theatre | Griselda / Queen Beatrice | Episode: "The Tale of the Frog Prince" |
1983 | As You Like It | Rosalind | TV movie |
1983 | Special Bulletin | Diane Silverman | TV movie |
1984 | St. Elsewhere | Cat Lady | Episode: "Hello, Goodbye" |
1986-1987 | Airwaves | Jean Lipton | 26 episodes |
1988 | All My Children | Nanny Judith | TV series |
1989 | Great Performances | Mrs. Webb | Episode: "Our Town" |
1989 | Equalizer, TheThe Equalizer | Episode: "Heart of Justice" | |
1989 | Hitchhiker, TheThe Hitchhiker | Marybeth | Episode: "The Dying Generation" |
1996 | We the Jury | Lydia Bosco | TV movie |
1996 | Mistrial | Judge Friel | TV movie |
1997 | When Innocence Is Lost | Cynthia Adams | TV movie |
1997 | Liberty! | Mercy Otis Warren | TV miniseries |
1998 | As the End of the Day: The Sue Rodriguez Story | Doe | TV movie |
1999 | Shadow Lake | TV movie | |
1999 | Too Rich: The Doris Duke Story | Myra | TV movie |
1999 | Forget Me Never | TV movie | |
1999 | Twice in a Lifetime | Eloise Hawke / Eileen Kotter | Episode: "School's Out" |
2000 | Law & Order | Teresa Brewster | Episode: "Collision" |
2000 | Outer Limits, TheThe Outer Limits | Mrs. Reynolds | Episode: "Inner Child" |
2000 | Life in a Day | Carla Jennings | TV movie |
2000 | Dinosaur Hunter, TheThe Dinosaur Hunter | Adult Julia | TV movie |
2001 | What Makes a Family | Claire | TV movie |
2002 | Scar Tissue | Mora Carlisle-Nevsky | TV movie |
2002 | Benjamin Franklin | Deborah Read Franklin | TV miniseries documentary |
2003 | Atwood Stories, TheThe Atwood Stories | Lois | Episode: "Death by Landscape" |
2004 | Gracie's Choice | Judge | TV movie |
2005 | Vinegar Hill | Ellen's Mother | TV movie |
2005 | Riding the Bus with My Sister | Valerie | TV movie |
2005 | Queer as Folk | Michael's Lawyer | Episode: "5.3" |
2006 | Booky Makes Her Mark | Aunt Aggie | TV movie |
2006 | Mermaid Chair, TheThe Mermaid Chair | Nelle | TV movie |
2009 | Warehouse 13 | Rebecca St. Clair | Episode: "Burnout" |
2010 | Warehouse 13 | Rebecca St. Clair | Episode: "Where and When" |
2010 | Rookie Blue | Marie D'Abramo | Episode: "Bullet Proof" |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1958 | Two Gentlemen of Verona | Ursula | |
1968 | Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, TheThe Prime of Miss Jean Brodie | Various | Understudy: Sister Helena, Sandy |
1968-1969 | House of Atreus, TheThe House of Atreus | Handmaiden / Chorus | |
1968-1969 | Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, TheThe Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui | Betty Dullfeet | |
1969 | King Henry VI | Katherine | |
1970 | Othello | Desdemona | |
1970 | Hay Fever | Sorel Bliss | |
1972 | There's One in Every Marriage | Lucienne | |
1973 | Plough and the Stars, TheThe Plough and the Stars | Nora Clitheroe | |
1973 | Merchant of Venice, TheThe Merchant of Venice | Jessica | |
1974-1977 | Equus | Jill Mason | |
1977 | Merchant, TheThe Merchant | Portia Contarini | |
1988-1989 | Our Town | Mrs. Webb | |
1996 | Summer and Smoke | Mrs. Winemiller | |
2015 | Indian Ink | Eleanor Swan | American Conservatory Theater production |
2016 | The Gabriels: Election Year In the Life of One Family (Hungry, What Did You Expect?, and Women of a Certain Age) | Patricia Gabriel | Play Cycle by Richard Nelson at The Public Theater |
Awards and recognition
- 1970: Obie Award, Whistle in the Dark
- 1971: Drama Desk Award, Slag (David Hare's first play)
- 1977: Obie Award, Ashes (with Brian Murray for Joseph Papp and Manhattan Theatre Club)