Former Bond girl Tanya Roberts dies aged 65

Tanya Roberts, who captivated James Bond in A View To A Kill, has died aged 65.

Lance O’Brien, her companion of nearly two decades, told the Associated Press on Tuesday that Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre informed him that Roberts had died on Monday.

“She was my soulmate, she was my best friend. We haven’t been apart for two days,” Mr O’Brien said.

Roberts’ death was related to a urinary tract infection, publicist Mike Pingel said. He had been at the hospital with Mr O’Brien to pick up Roberts’ personal effects.

Roberts collapsed at home on December 24 after walking her dogs and was admitted to Cedars-Sinai. She had been reported dead on Sunday, but Mr Pingel said that was based on a mistake by Mr O’Brien, who believed Roberts had slipped away during what was expected to be a final visit.

Numerous outlets, including the Associated Press, reported Roberts’ death on Monday, based on information Mr Pingel received from Mr O’Brien.

Mr O’Brien, who had been unable to see Roberts in the hospital because of Covid-19 restrictions, was allowed to visit on Sunday as her condition worsened. The actor did not have the virus, he said.

When he got the call on Sunday that she was failing, Mr O’Brien said he was “emotionally shocked because I was expecting her to come home”.

Roberts played geologist Stacey Sutton opposite Roger Moore in 1985′s A View To A Kill, where she held a gun on Bond after tricking him into thinking she was in a shower.

Roberts also appeared in such fantasy adventure films as The Beastmaster and Hearts And Armour.

She replaced Shelley Hack in Charlie’s Angels, joining Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd as third Angel Julie. She also played comic book heroine Sheena — a female version of the Tarzan story — in a 1984 film.

A new generation of fans saw her on That ’70s Show from 1998 and 2004, playing Midge, mother to Laura Prepon’s character Donna.