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

Roberta Maxwell
Born
Roberta Farnham Maxwell

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

Biography

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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 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]

Filmography

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Film
Year Title Role Notes
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
1989 Kingsgate Marlene
1993 Philadelphia Judge Tate
1995 Dead Man Walking Lucille Poncelet
1997 Fall Joan Alterman
1997 The Postman Irene March
1998 Last Night Mrs. Wheeler
1999 Water Damage Dr. Winfrey
2001 Full Disclosure Sarah Archer Direct-to-video
2005 Brokeback Mountain Mrs. Twist, Jack's Mother
2007 The Killing Floor Ms. Alimet Uncredited
2014 Hungry Hearts Anne
2014 What We Have Rosemary
2015 Stranger in the House Alice
2015 Unearthing Mary Hart
2020 Percy Louise Schmeiser
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1960 Just Mary (voice) Unknown episodes
1962 Emergency-Ward 10 Nurse Merritt 2 episodes
1965 Festival Ria Hennessy Episode: "A Cheap Bunch of Nice Flowers"
1974 A Touch of the Poet Sara Melody TV movie
1974 Great Performances Clara Episode: "The Widowing of Mrs. Holroyd"
1974 Another World Barbara Weaver Unknown episode
1976 The Other Side of Victory Unknown TV movie
1978 For the Record Carol Episode: "A Matter of Choice"
1978 Mourning Becomes Electra Lavinia Mannon Unknown episodes
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 1 episode
1989 Great Performances Mrs. Webb Episode: "Our Town"
1989 The Equalizer Unknown Episode: "Heart of Justice"
1989 The 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 4 episodes
1998 As the End of the Day: The Sue Rodriguez Story Doe TV movie
1999 Shadow Lake Louise Garvey TV movie
1999 Too Rich: The Doris Duke Story Myra TV movie
1999 Forget Me Never Unknown TV movie
1999 Twice in a Lifetime Eloise Hawke / Eileen Kotter Episode: "School's Out"
2000 Law & Order Teresa Brewster Episode: "Collision"
2000 The Outer Limits Mrs. Reynolds Episode: "Inner Child"
2000 Life in a Day Carla Jennings TV movie
2000 The 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
3 episodes
2003 The 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 The Mermaid Chair Nelle TV movie
2009-2010 Warehouse 13 Rebecca St. Clair 2 episodes
2010 Rookie Blue Marie D'Abramo Episode: "Bullet Proof"
2017 The Gabriels: Election Year in the Life of One Family Patricia Gabriel 3 episodes
Theater
Year Title Role Notes
1958 Two Gentlemen of Verona Ursula
1968 The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie Various Roles Understudy: Sister Helena, Sandy
1968-1969 The House of Atreus Handmaiden / Chorus
1968-1969 The 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 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
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

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References

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  1. ^ Lucas, Ralph (September 17, 2014). "Roberta Maxwell".
  2. ^ "A short trip for Robera Maxwell". The Gazette. Montreal. March 21, 1986. p. D1. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
  3. ^ Roberta Maxwell at the Internet Broadway Database  
  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
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