Skip to main content

Misspent Youth: Tanya Roberts


Looking back at the pop culture mainstays of this Gen-Xer's gloriously misspent youth.

Some actors slide in and out of our periphery, costarring in one film or series after another, each of which briefly crossed our radars at some point. Bronx-born actress Tanya Roberts was one such performer for me.

She knew how to wear a strategically placed loincloth better than most.

I grew up on a steady diet of Charlie's Angels reruns, and no offense meant to Shelley Hack, but when Roberts took over for Hack in the fifth and final season, I definitely took notice. Not to focus on her looks, but geez, her gorgeous feathered hair and sultry bedroom eyes were impossible to ignore. Tanya Roberts had a look, and even all these years later, it basically defines the 1970s/early 1980s for me.

Friend to monkeys everywhere, expert falconer, and, once again, strategically placed loincloth wearer extraordinaire.

From The Love Boat to Fantasy Island to Silk Stalkings, she made the rounds on some serious preteen and teen television favorites. She also was a pleasant addition to many films I was discovering on cable or VHS during those years, including The Beastmaster (1982, Fingers (1978), and Tourist Trap (1979), and Sheena (1984). Then, there she was again, as Donna's impossibly smoking hot mom, Midge, in That '70s Show. I seem to recall the term MILF gaining popularity in the broader culture at some point during that show's run, and while I can't say for certain, I'm more than willing to give Roberts credit for being the inspiration for that acronym. 

Spoiler: I rooted like heck for Roberts' character to survive Tourist Trap, and for a moment it almost seems like she might. Nope.

People don't often talk about Roberts as a serious ac-TOR, but I think what I appreciated most about her (besides those eyes, of course), was her loose, relaxed performance style. She was a calming presence in much of her work, a glamorous, startlingly beautiful figure, just gliding along, in no particular hurry to get anywhere. I love how in the backwoods horror romp Tourist Trap, she's both laconic in the face of danger and utterly determined at the same time. It's a weird dichotomy, but Roberts tended to pull it off pretty well.

A quick search of IMDb shows she hasn't acted since 2005. That's a shame. But back in the day, she was all over the place, at least in my experience. Today is her 63rd birthday. 63? No way. 


That's the thing with actors of our youth. We tend to continue to see them as ageless, probably because it allows us to ignore our own slow march through the aging process. 


Happy birthday to one of the mainstays of my misspent, Gen-X youth.

Packing heat: Even Roberts couldn't save Charlie's Angels from cancellation.

James Toback's Fingers is an oppressively disturbing (not to mention fairly misogynist) cult film that is nevertheless incredibly powerful. Roberts' bathroom scene with Harvey Keitel is unforgettable.


Publicity shot from A View to a Kill.

This issue was likely a big seller on newsstands back in 1982.


Roberts was delightfully eccentric and always a hoot on her last major work, That '70s Show.


A participating post in the October Birthdayz Blogathon.
Labels:

Comments

  1. UnknownOctober 16, 2018 at 10:26 PM

    Happy Birthday to Tanya Roberts. An actress I wasn't aware of. I just googled her out. She is 63, by the way :)
    AND Thanks Michael for sending me this link, this is a lovely tribute. Yes, you are very welcome to add this to my Blogathon.
    Cheers
    Nuwan Sen
    (www.nononsensewithnuwansen.wordpress.com)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Words Seem Out of PlaceOctober 17, 2018 at 5:47 AM

      Thanks, Nuwan! I'm happy to have participated in your blogathon. And thanks for catching the typo; it's now fixed!

      Delete
    2. UnknownOctober 21, 2018 at 7:16 AM

      Hi, added your post yesterday!!
      THNX!!

      Delete
  2. Paul SOctober 23, 2018 at 3:25 AM

    I'm sat nodding in agreement at seeing the "actors of our youth" as ageless, I'm more guilty of that than most. Like a lot of people on the UK I only know Tanya Roberts from A View to a Kill, but I would like to seek out Sheena. I'm sure it would hit the spot, in a so bad it's good kind of way.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Words Seem Out of PlaceOctober 29, 2018 at 7:54 AM

      Yes, I haven't seen Sheena in ages (not since that misspent youth), but I recall it definitely hitting that "so bad it's good" sweet spot.

      Delete
  3. Silver ScreeningsOctober 29, 2018 at 5:59 AM

    I am not at all familiar with Tanya Roberts – have never seen The 70s Show – but I can see why a person would admire her so much. This was a lovely tribute, and a pleasure to read. :)

    P.S. I laughed at the way you wrote ac-TOR.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Words Seem Out of PlaceOctober 29, 2018 at 7:55 AM

      Thanks for stopping by to read and comment, and thank you so much for the kind words.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Blowing in the Wind: Marilyn Monroe and That Iconic White Dress

This month marks sixty-five years since one of the most iconic moments in twentieth-century popular culture: Marilyn Monroe’s angelic white dress being blown sky high by wind rushing up from a subway grate beneath her feet in the film  The Seven Year Itch . Billy Wilder shot multiple takes, while Sam Shaw snapped photo after photo for what had to be the biggest publicity stunt ever staged at the time. Marilyn wore two pairs of underwear for the shot, yet, as noted in Lois Banner's critical biography Marilyn: The Passion and the Paradox  (2012), "a dark blotch of pubic hair" remained visible to the 100 male photographers and over 1,500 male spectators, all of whom crowded eagerly around the set to gawk and drool.  Due to strict 1950s movie censorship laws, photos had to be doctored to white out the offending blotch, but those in attendance saw it, over and over, shot after shot. Marilyn's husband at the time, the extremely old fashioned Joe DiMaggio, stormed off th
Post a Comment
Read more

All I Want For Christmas: Phoebe Cates's Monologue in Gremlins

Joe Dante's 1980s classic Gremlins will always be a subversive Christmas favorite. From Spike exploding in the microwave to Mrs. Daigle's "stairlift to hell", the movie is packed with deliciously transgressive moments that turn the holly jolly season right on its ear. None are more memorable, though, than Phoebe Cates delivering her legendary "worst thing that ever happened to me on Christmas" monologue. It's a jaw-dropping, tour-de-force moment, a truly horrific story that's also one of the most darkly comic moments in Christmas movie history. Cates really shines during this scene. There's no denying just how seminal that scene of hers in Fast Times at Ridgemont High was for a generation of young people, but her speech in Gremlins is equally important and a wonderful showcase for her serious and comedic acting skills.  Here's the speech, in its entirety. No Christmas season is complete without at least one viewing
Post a Comment
Read more

It Came From the '90s: Kelly Bundy and the Alternative Family Ideal

This series looks back at the 1990s and its influence on the generation of people who came of age during the decade. Very few television series in the 1990s were as polarizing as Married...with Children . People either loved it or they loathed it. TV critics and good upstanding Catholic families like mine fell into the latter category. Soon after it debuted during my first year of junior high in 1987 (not quite the '90s, but on the brink), my parents made it clear that we would not be watching. I believe the words they used were "vulgar," "unfunny," and, one of their perennial favorites, "risque." Of course, this meant it immediately took on a prurient appeal for me. Parents can never win, honestly. Kelly Bundy—the talented Christina Applegate, who never gets enough credit for elevating the blonde airhead trope into an art form—only further piqued my interest. She was like the girls in school with the absurdly voluminous hair and ridiculously sh
4 comments
Read more

"That girl looks just like Pat Benatar"

Linda, that girl looks just like Pat Benatar. I know. Wait, there are three girls here at Ridgemont who have cultivated the Pat Benatar look. I was just a kid when Fast Times at Ridgemont High opened in 1982. Still though, even at the tender young age of seven, I knew who Pat Benatar was, because a.) her music was all over the radio and even then I recognized the utter awesomeness of her vocal talent in songs like "Hit Me With Your Best Shot", and b.) some of the older girls around town were obviously cribbing their looks—clothes, hair, makeup, strut—from Benatar's own style. Benatar was ubiquitous. So, when I see or hear vintage-era Benatar now, I think of Fast Times , but mostly I remember that ubiquity—of both the performer and her legion of young imitators. I know it's not true, but when I recollect those years I swear every older girl looked like either Benatar, Juice Newton, or Joan Jett. It's easy to forget, years later, that
Post a Comment
Read more

Misspent Youth: Joanne Whalley

Looking back at the pop culture mainstays of this Gen-Xer's gloriously misspent youth. One of the most famous and oft-quoted Seinfeld scenes involves Bobka and Jerry's discovery of the existence of Cinnamon Bobka. After Elaine scoffs at the notion of such a thing, even calling it a "lesser Bobka," Jerry unleashes one of the great defenses of a freshly ground spice ever delivered: People love cinnamon. It should be on tables at restaurants along with salt and pepper. Anytime anyone says, "Oh This is so good. What's in it?" The answer invariably comes back, Cinnamon. Cinnamon. Again and again.  Joanne Whalley is like Cinnamon. Yes, I just compulsively double-checked my DVD copy and it's the unrated version, thank you very much. Let me explain. You see, during the formative years of my misspent youth, if I stumbled on a movie featuring the doe-eyed, petite, beautiful English actress, invariably I'd feel like Jerry does about Cin
2 comments
Read more

Misspent Youth: Randi Brooks

Looking back at the pop culture mainstays of this Gen-Xer's gloriously misspent youth. ***** A note on the series and this site: This might be the final post in the "Misspent Youth" series - at least here. Maybe it'll eventually move with me. Oh, right, I buried the lede: I've moved, and would love for you to come visit me at my new site, The Starfire Lounge ! Moving forward, this site will likely cease to be updated, but will remain around for posterity and your continued reading pleasure. I have a few more things to post here over the coming days or weeks as a sort of "everything must go" send-off to the old girl. I also plan to write a final farewell post to my main online home for the last five years. Stay tuned and, as always, thanks for reading. ***** It's no surprise that the talented but now mostly forgotten Randi Brooks would make an appearance in the Misspent Youth series. She may not be a household name, but her resume
Post a Comment
Read more

Margot Kidder and the Childhood Crush That Will Never Die

"I dream about sex, flying, and being chased by Nazis." — Margot Kidder,  Rolling Stone , "The Education of Margot Kidder", 1981 ***** File that quote under, "Reasons why I love Margot Kidder." Last month, Margot hopped a one-way flight with old pal Chris Reeve off into the stars and beyond, where they could reenact their iconic moment from  Superman  (1978), for all eternity. I wrote a little about Margot, here and here , trying to explain why this particular actress meant so much to me as a kid growing up in the 1980s. I thought that would be enough. It wasn't.* Those posts were my fumbling attempts to sort out just how large an impact Margot had on my young life, and, to my present-day surprise, how much she still means to me now. Before news of her death, I hadn't thought of her in ages. I assumed the early childhood crush I harbored for my Lois Lane had dwindled and faded. Ha! I was a fool. My crush on Margot was very
4 comments
Read more

It Came From the '90s: My Secret Crush on The Nanny

This series looks back at the 1990s and its influence on the generation of people who came of age during the decade. For six seasons in the 1990s, The Nanny made many of us laugh. At times, it could be downright hilarious . At others, well, not so much . This isn't a review of a '90s sitcom staple, though. No. This is simply an excuse to come clean about something I've kept buried deep inside for over two decades now: I had a secret crush on The Nanny herself, Fran Drescher. The unadulterated nineties-ness of this is practically blinding. And I love it. While The Nanny was sometimes quite funny, thanks largely to Drescher's spunky charisma and wholehearted commitment, the show was never considered hip. People my parents age seemed to love it, but my friends preferred, well, Friends . That smile! Those legs! That dress! It's all overloading my circuits. I watched Friends with my friends, but I also thoroughly enjoyed The Nanny , to
2 comments
Read more

"Opium Wars" by Zoe Lund

She wants there to be more of her. More space taken by her body, More decibels conquered by her voice, More time by her wakefulness, More equations by her addition. She wants more, I want less. Her blade is rusty, musty, sweaty and vain. I like it clean and sharp and dark-bright. She traffics in surplus, I bare my essentials. Her world is elastic but brittle. Mine is bony but moonlit. Hers flows, she ebbs. Mine ebbs, I flow. She dies in life, I live in death. —Zoe Lund, “Opium Wars”
3 comments
Read more

Misspent Youth: Morgan Fairchild

Looking back at the movies, music, television, and other pop culture mainstays of this Gen-Xer's gloriously misspent youth. Once I decided that Morgan Fairchild would be the subject of the next installment in this series, I did what I usually do and researched online for a bit, just to refresh my memory on details that might've previously been lost to time. Morgan Fairchild was legitimately one of the most potent sex symbols of the 1970s and '80s. Not that I needed much refresher when it came to Fairchild. Born Patsy Ann McClenny in Dallas, Texas, February 3, 1950, the American actress was everywhere during those oh-so-crucial formative years of my pop culture obsession. She loomed large in the growing ranks of proto-haughty glamour queens, a trope that was hot on prime time TV in the 1980s. The characters she was most well-known for were drop-dead gorgeous and didn't suffer fools lightly. Really, few ever did it better than Fairchild. The shirt do
3 comments
Read more