Roberta Maxwell

Last updated
Roberta Maxwell
Born
Roberta Farnham Maxwell

(1941-06-17) June 17, 1941 (age 83)
Toronto, Ontario
OccupationActress (1956-present)

Roberta Farnham Maxwell (born June 17, 1941) [1] is a Canadian stage, film, and television actress.

Contents

Biography

Maxwell began studying for the stage in her early teens. She joined John Clark for two years as the child co-host of his Junior Magazine series for CBC Television. She first performed at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in 1956. [2]

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 .

She first traveled to New York at age 19 in 1960. 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 and Peter Firth. [3]

Maxwell played Lavinia Mannion (opposite Joan Hackett's Christine Mannion) in the 1978 PBS adaptation of Mourning Becomes Electra . 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 [4] In 2009-10 she appeared in two episodes of the Syfy series Warehouse 13 . [5]

Maxwell has also appeared in several noteworthy films including Rich Kids (1979), Popeye and The Changeling (both 1980), Psycho III (1986), Philadelphia (1993), Dead Man Walking (1995) and Brokeback Mountain (2005). Her performance in the 1998 independent Canadian dramady Last Night garnered Maxwell a nomination for a Genie Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.

Filmography

Film
YearTitleRoleNotes
1968 A Great Big Thing Eve
1979 Rich Kids Barbara Peterfreund
1980 The Changeling Eva Lingstrom
1980 Popeye Nana Oyl
1986 Psycho III Tracy Venable
1989KingsgateMarlene
1993 Philadelphia Judge Tate
1995 Dead Man Walking Lucille Poncelet
1997 Fall Joan Alterman
1997 The Postman Irene March
1998 Last Night Mrs. Wheeler
1999Water DamageDr. Winfrey
2001 Full Disclosure Sarah ArcherDirect-to-video
2005 Brokeback Mountain Mrs. Twist, Jack's Mother
2007 The Killing Floor Ms. AlimetUncredited
2014 Hungry Hearts Anne
2014 What We Have Rosemary
2015Stranger in the HouseAlice
2015UnearthingMary Hart
2017Gwendolyn GreenGwendolyn GreenShort film
2020 Percy Louise Schmeiser
2022This is HarrietBeatriceShort film
Television
YearTitleRoleNotes
1957-1958 Junior Magazine Herself / HostVarious episodes
1957FolioUnknownEpisode: "Peer Gynt"
1957, 1959, 1960, 1961 Encounter ** / Marjorie / Kathryn Loring / Laurie / Stella Meredith / Helen / BettyEpisodes: "The Movie Star"; "Lady's Choice"; "The Room"; "The Oddball"; "The Watchers"; "The Touch of Light"; "Counsel for the Defense"
1960 Just Mary (voice)Unknown episodes
1962 BBC Sunday-Night Play Carolyn ClaybourneEpisode: "The Day Before Atlanta"
1962 Emergency-Ward 10 Nurse Merritt2 episodes
1965FestivalRia HennessyEpisode: "A Cheap Bunch of Nice Flowers"
1966 Henry V UnknownTV movie
1974A Touch of the PoetSara MelodyTV movie
1974 Great Performances ClaraEpisode: "The Widowing of Mrs. Holroyd"
1974 Another World Barbara Weaver91 episodes
1976The Other Side of VictoryUnknownTV movie
1978 For the Record CarolEpisode: "A Matter of Choice"
1978Mourning Becomes ElectraLavinia MannonTV miniseries (four-part) – Episodes: "The Secret"; "The Homecoming"; "The Hunted"; "An Act of Justice"
1979The Other Side of VictoryNancy TurnerTV movie
1981 Today's FBI Phyllis SlaterEpisode: "The Bureau"
1982Lois Gibbs and the Love CanalMary BelinskiTV movie
1982 Faerie Tale Theatre Griselda / Queen BeatriceEpisode: "The Tale of the Frog Prince"
1983As You Like ItRosalindTV movie
1983 Special Bulletin Diane SilvermanTV movie
1984 St. Elsewhere Cat LadyEpisode: "Hello, Goodbye"
1986-1987 Airwaves Jean Lipton26 episodes
1988 All My Children Nanny Judith1 episode
1989 Great Performances Mrs. WebbEpisode: "Our Town"
1989 The Equalizer UnknownEpisode: "Heart of Justice"
1989 The Hitchhiker MarybethEpisode: "The Dying Generation"
1996We the JuryLydia BoscoTV movie
1996 Mistrial Judge FrielTV movie
1997 When Innocence Is Lost Cynthia AdamsTV movie
1997 Liberty! Mercy Otis WarrenTV miniseries (six-part) – Episodes: "The Reluctant Revolutionaries"; "Blows Must Decide"; "The Times That Try Men's Souls"; "Oh Fatal Ambition!"
1998As the End of the Day: The Sue Rodriguez StoryDoeTV movie
1999Shadow LakeLouise GarveyTV movie
1999Too Rich: The Doris Duke StoryMyraTV movie
1999Forget Me NeverUnknownTV movie
1999 Twice in a Lifetime Eloise Hawke / Eileen KotterEpisode: "School's Out"
2000 Law & Order Teresa BrewsterEpisode: "Collision"
2000 The Outer Limits Mrs. ReynoldsEpisode: "Inner Child"
2000 Life in a Day Carla JenningsTV movie
2000The Dinosaur HunterAdult JuliaTV movie
2001 What Makes a Family ClaireTV movie
2002Scar TissueMora Carlisle-NevskyTV movie
2002 Benjamin Franklin Deborah Read FranklinTV miniseries documentary (three-part) – Episodes: "Let the Experiment Be Made"; "The Making of a Revolutionary"; "The Chess Master"
2003 The Atwood Stories LoisEpisode: "Death by Landscape"
2004 Gracie's Choice JudgeTV movie
2005Vinegar HillEllen's MotherTV movie
2005 Riding the Bus with My Sister ValerieTV movie
2005 Queer as Folk Michael's LawyerEpisode: "5.3"
2006 Booky Makes Her Mark Aunt AggieTV movie
2006 The Mermaid Chair NelleTV movie
2009-2010 Warehouse 13 Rebecca St. Clair2 episodes
2010 Rookie Blue Marie D'AbramoEpisode: "Bullet Proof"
2014 Theater Talk Herself / GuestEpisode: "Dick Cavett, Roberta Maxwell and Marcia Rodd on 'Hellman v. McCarthy'"
2017The Gabriels: Election Year in the Life of One FamilyPatricia GabrielTV miniseries (three-part) – Episodes: "Hungry"; "What Did You Expect?"; "Women of a Certain Age"
Theater
YearTitleRoleNotes
1958 Two Gentlemen of Verona Ursula
1968 The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie Various RolesUnderstudy: Sister Helena, Sandy
1968-1969The House of AtreusHandmaiden / Chorus
1968-1969 The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui Betty Dullfeet
1969King Henry VIKatherine
1970 Othello Desdemona
1970 Hay Fever Sorel Bliss
1972There's One in Every MarriageLucienne
1973 The Plough and the Stars Nora Clitheroe
1973 The Merchant of Venice Jessica
1974-1977 Equus Jill Mason
1977 The Merchant Portia Contarini
1988-1989 Our Town Mrs. Webb
1996 Summer and Smoke Mrs. Winemiller
2015 Indian Ink Eleanor Swan American Conservatory Theater production
2016The Gabriels: Election Year In the Life of One Family (Hungry, What Did You Expect?, and Women of a Certain Age)Patricia GabrielPlay Cycle by Richard Nelson at The Public Theater

Awards and recognition

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References

  1. Lucas, Ralph (September 17, 2014). "Roberta Maxwell".
  2. "A short trip for Roberta Maxwell". The Gazette. Montreal. March 21, 1986. p. D1. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
  3. Roberta Maxwell at the Internet Broadway Database OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  4. 1958 sound interview, Stratford, Ontario, cbc.ca; accessed March 30, 2018.
  5. "Warehouse 13 (TV Series 2009–2014)", IMDb.com, retrieved May 8, 2020