Tanya Roberts Death Report Was a Mistake
by EG
That 70's Show star Tanya Roberts apparently has not died, although she reportedly is in very grave condition in the hospital. Reports of her death on Monday were premature, caused by a misunderstanding between her longtime partner and her publicist. Read on for details.
Via Page Six.
Tanya Roberts’ longtime partner explained to The Post on Monday how the former Bond girl was mistakenly reported dead by her publicist.
Lance O’Brien, 62, said the mix-up occurred during a conversation he had with the actress’ rep, Mike Pingel, on Sunday — in which O’Brien said he was “blubbering” after an “end of life” visit with Roberts at the hospital.
“[Pingel] goes, ‘What happened?’ And I say, ‘I just said goodbye to Tanya, and I got to see her beautiful eyes one last time.’ And after that, I’m just blubbering,” O’Brien recalled.
“Next thing I know, TMZ, OMG, is on my cell phone.”
The call with O’Brien apparently prompted Pingel to issue a statement on Sunday announcing the 65-year-old actress’ death — before backtracking on Monday.
Roberts — who famously starred in the 1985 James Bond flick “A View to a Kill” — had been hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles since Dec. 24 after collapsing in her home.
Her partner of 15 years, O’Brien, said he got a call from the hospital on Sunday saying he’d been cleared for a visit because Roberts was about to die.
“As soon as I touch her, she opens her eyes, and I can see she’s trying to come back to life. And I go, ‘She’s looking great,'” he recalled.
However, after a hospital worker apparently told him that Roberts opening her eyes was “just a reflex,” O’Brien told The Post he said his final goodbye.
O’Brien said he had really believed his girlfriend had died — until he received a phone call from the hospital on Monday morning telling him she was still alive.
Get the rest of the story at Page Six.
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