Bond actress Tanya Roberts confirmed to have died day after premature announcement

The 65-year-old had collapsed after walking her dogs on Christmas Eve.
The 65-year-old had collapsed after walking her dogs on Christmas Eve. Photo credit: Getty

Bond actress Tanya Roberts, who was mistakenly reported dead on Monday, has now died.

Her partner Lance O'Brien confirmed to the New York Times on Tuesday that Roberts had died in Cedars-Sinai Hospital in LA.

The 65-year-old, who found fame in the 1980s playing a detective on Charlie's Angels before going on to star in James Bond film A View to a Kill and That '70s Show, had collapsed after walking her dogs on Christmas Eve.

She was taken to the hospital and put on a ventilator. It was not believed to be related to COVID-19.

Her publicist Mike Pingel believed she had died after talking with O'Brien, who said Roberts seemed to "slip away" as he held her in hospital, the LA Times reported.

Pingel prematurely announced her death to the media on Monday and several of her co-stars took to social media to pay tribute.

"In the first season of 70's we had a scene in the kitchen, drinking cocktails and laughing together. She laughed, spit her drink in my face, apologised profusely and did it 3 more times. I loved her. RIP beauty," Debra Jo Rupp, who portrayed Kitty Forman on That '70s Show, tweeted on Monday. 

"I was so sad to hear that Tanya Roberts has passed away," said Topher Grace, who played Eric Forman. 

"She was a Bond girl, one of Charlie's Angels, and truly a delightful person to work with. 

"I had never acted before and, to be honest, a little nervous around her. But she couldn't have been kinder. 

"We'll miss you, Midge."

Actress Britt Ekland, who appeared in another Bond film also tweeted: "Once a Bond Girl always a Bond Girl!"