Roberta Maxwell

Roberta Farnham Maxwell (born June 17, 1941) is a Canadian actress.

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.

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.

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 In 2009-10 she appeared in two episodes of the Syfy series Warehouse 13.

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 Year Title Role Notes 1968 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 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 Ms. Alimet Uncredited 2014 Hungry Hearts Anne 2014 What We Have Rosemary 2015 Stranger in the House Alice 2015 Unearthing Mary Hart 2017 Gwendolyn Green Gwendolyn Green Short film 2020 Percy Louise Schmeiser 2022 This is Harriet Beatrice Short film

Television Year Title Role Notes 1957–1958 Junior Magazine Herself / Host Various episodes 1957 Folio Episode: "Peer Gynt" 1957, 1959, 1960, 1961 Encounter ** / Marjorie / Kathryn Loring / Laurie / Stella Meredith / Helen / Betty Episodes: "The Movie Star"; "Lady's Choice"; "The Room"; "The Oddball"; "The Watchers"; "The Touch of Light"; "Counsel for the Defense" 1960 Just Mary (voice) 1962BBC Sunday-Night Play Carolyn Claybourne Episode: "The Day Before Atlanta" 1962 Emergency-Ward 10 Nurse Merritt 2 episodes 1965 Festival Ria Hennessy Episode: "A Cheap Bunch of Nice Flowers" 1966 Henry V TV movie 1974 Sara Melody TV movie 1974 Great Performances Clara Episode: "The Widowing of Mrs. Holroyd" 1974 Another World Barbara Weaver 91 episodes 1976 TV movie 1978 For the Record Carol Episode: "A Matter of Choice" 1978 Mourning Becomes Electra Lavinia Mannon TV miniseries (four-part) – Episodes: "The Secret"; "The Homecoming"; "The Hunted"; "An Act of Justice" 1979 The Other Side of Victory Nancy Turner TV movie 1981 Today's FBI Phyllis Slater Episode: "The Bureau" 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 RosalindTV 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 Justice Lindsey Smith Episode: "Heart of Justice" 1989 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 TV miniseries (six-part) – Episodes: "The Reluctant Revolutionaries"; "Blows Must Decide"; "The Times That Try Men's Souls"; "Oh Fatal Ambition!" 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 TV movie 1999 Twice in a Lifetime Eloise Hawke / Eileen Kotter Episode: "School's Out" 2000 Law & Order Teresa Brewster Episode: "Collision" 2000 Mrs. Reynolds Episode: "Inner Child" 2000 Life in a Day Carla Jennings TV movie 2000 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 (three-part) – Episodes: "Let the Experiment Be Made"; "The Making of a Revolutionary"; "The Chess Master" 2003 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 Nelle TV movie 2009–2010 Warehouse 13 Rebecca St. Clair 2 episodes 2010 Rookie Blue Marie D'Abramo Episode: "Bullet Proof" 2014 Theater Talk Herself / Guest Episode: "Dick Cavett, Roberta Maxwell and Marcia Rodd on 'Hellman v. McCarthy'" 2017 The Gabriels: Election Year in the Life of One Family Patricia Gabriel TV miniseries (three-part) – Episodes: "Hungry"; "What Did You Expect?"; "Women of a Certain Age"

Theater Year Title Role Notes 1958 Two Gentlemen of Verona Ursula 1968 Various Roles Understudy: Sister Helena, Sandy 1968–1969 Handmaiden / Chorus 1968–1969 Betty Dullfeet 1969 King Henry VI Katherine 1970 Othello Desdemona 1970 Hay Fever Sorel Bliss 1972 There's One in Every Marriage Lucienne 1973 Nora Clitheroe 1973 Jessica 1974–1977 Equus Jill Mason 1977 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 1970: Obie Award for Distinguished Performance by an Actress, Whistle in the Dark — Winner 1971: Drama Desk Award for Best Lead Performance, Slag — Winner 1977: Obie Award for Distinguished Performance by an Actress, Ashes — Winner 1999: Genie Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Last Night — Nominee 2003: Gemini Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series, Scar Tissue — Nominee 2006: Online Film & Television Association Award for Best Ensemble, Brokeback Mountain — Winner 2006: International Online Cinema Award for Best Ensemble (INOCA), Brokeback Mountain — Nominee