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Audra Lindley

Audra Lindley

Audra Marie Lindley (September 24, 1918 – October 16, 1997) was an American actress, most famous for her role as landlady Helen Roper on the sitcom Three's Company and its spin-off, The Ropers. Born in Los Angeles, California, Lindley was the daughter of show business parents. She got her early start in Hollywood by being a stand-in, which eventually progressed to stunt work. Nothing panned out, and she went to New York in her mid-20s to work in theater. Among her many Broadway plays were: On Golden Pond, Playhouse 90, Long Day's Journey into Night, and Horse Heavens. She took time off to get married and raise five children. Upon resuming her career, she began to make steady appearances on television, including the role of Sue Knowles on the CBS soap opera Search for Tomorrow, and a six-year stint as manipulative "Aunt Liz" Matthews on the NBC soap opera Another World. She also had regular roles as Meredith Baxter's mother in the sitcom Bridget Loves Bernie, as well as Lee Grant's best friend in Fay. Her greatest fame arrived when she began playing the wisecracking, perpetually unfulfilled and sexually frustrated Helen Roper on the hit sitcom Three's Company (1977). (Lindley wore a wig to maintain the character's exaggerated hairstyle.) The character and her husband, Mr. Roper (played by Norman Fell), were spun off to their own show, The Ropers (1979), which was not a success. Lindley continued to appear steadily on television and in film, such as Revenge of the Stepford Wives in 1980 and as Fauna, the owner of the "Bear Flag Restaurant," a Monterey, CA brothel portrayed in the 1982 film Cannery Row. In 1982, she appeared in the film Best Friends starring Goldie Hawn and Burt Reynolds. One of her last roles was a character part in the lesbian-themed film Desert Hearts (1985). Lindley wanted to reshoot one key scene. The director, Donna Deitch, replied that they did not have the budget for reshooting. Lindley said that she would buy a portion of the film if Deitch let her do just that one take again. Deitch agreed, and Lindley kept her word. Lindley garnered further parts of all sizes in various TV films and series, including playing Phoebe Buffay's grandmother on Friends, and her last, a recurring role as Cybill Shepherd's mother on the CBS sitcom Cybill. She had also played Shepherd's mother in the 1972 film The Heartbreak Kid. Lindley died from leukemia on October 16, 1997, at Cedars Sinai Medical Center with a Cybill script by her hospital bedside. She was married to and divorced from Dr. Hardy Ulm (1943–1960); they had five children. She later married and divorced James Whitmore (1972–1979) Description above from the Wikipedia article Audra Lindley, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia

Personal information

Birthday

1918-09-24

Birth Place

Los Angeles, California, USA

Movies and TV shows :

Absolute Strangers

Absolute Strangers

1991

0.0

Movie
An American Girl

An American Girl

1958

0.0

Movie
poster

Another World

1964

5.2

TV
Best Friends

Best Friends

1982

5.0

Movie
Bridesmaids

Bridesmaids

1989

6.0

Movie
poster

Bridget Loves Bernie

1972

6.7

TV
Cannery Row

Cannery Row

1982

5.9

Movie
poster

Chico and the Man

1974

5.8

TV
Dangerously They Live

Dangerously They Live

1941

5.9

Movie
Deadline for Murder: From the Files of Edna Buchanan

Deadline for Murder: From the Files of Edna Buchanan

1995

5.0

Movie
Desert Hearts

Desert Hearts

1985

7.0

Movie
poster

Fay

1975

5.0

TV
poster

Friends

1994

8.4

TV
poster

From These Roots

1958

3.5

TV
Getting Married

Getting Married

1978

4.0

Movie
Hart to Hart: Crimes of the Hart

Hart to Hart: Crimes of the Hart

1994

6.2

Movie
Just My Imagination

Just My Imagination

1992

0.0

Movie
poster

Lux Video Theatre

1950

6.0

TV
Manpower

Manpower

1941

6.7

Movie
poster

Matlock

1986

7.2

TV
poster

Murder, She Wrote

1984

7.5

TV
poster

Naked City

1958

5.3

TV
One Foot in Heaven

One Foot in Heaven

1941

6.6

Movie
Pat Boone and Family: A Christmas Special

Pat Boone and Family: A Christmas Special

1979

0.0

Movie
poster

Pearl

1978

6.4

TV
Perry Mason: The Case of the Lady in the Lake

Perry Mason: The Case of the Lady in the Lake

1988

6.8

Movie
Revenge of the Stepford Wives

Revenge of the Stepford Wives

1980

5.4

Movie
poster

Robert Montgomery Presents

1950

5.2

TV
poster

Route 66

1960

6.4

TV
poster

Search for Tomorrow

1951

6.5

TV
Sisters and Other Strangers

Sisters and Other Strangers

1997

0.0

Movie
Skyward Christmas

Skyward Christmas

1981

0.0

Movie
Spellbinder

Spellbinder

1988

5.9

Movie
Stamp of a Killer

Stamp of a Killer

1987

7.0

Movie
Sudden Death

Sudden Death

1995

6.0

Movie
Sunday Drive

Sunday Drive

1986

0.0

Movie
Take My Daughters, Please

Take My Daughters, Please

1988

0.0

Movie
Taking Off

Taking Off

1971

6.9

Movie
poster

Tales from the Crypt

1989

8.0

TV
poster

The Bob Crane Show

1975

5.5

TV
The Canterville Ghost

The Canterville Ghost

1974

6.0

Movie
The Corpse Had a Familiar Face

The Corpse Had a Familiar Face

1994

6.0

Movie
The Day the Bubble Burst

The Day the Bubble Burst

1982

2.0

Movie
The Heartbreak Kid

The Heartbreak Kid

1972

6.6

Movie
poster

The Love Boat

1977

6.3

TV
The Male Animal

The Male Animal

1942

4.1

Movie
poster

The Mike Douglas Show

1961

5.1

TV
The New Age

The New Age

1994

5.5

Movie
The New Love Boat

The New Love Boat

1977

1.0

Movie
poster

The Philco Television Playhouse

1948

6.0

TV
The Relic

The Relic

1997

6.0

Movie
poster

The Ropers

1979

5.5

TV
The Silent Lovers

The Silent Lovers

1980

2.0

Movie
poster

Three's Company

1977

7.8

TV
Troop Beverly Hills

Troop Beverly Hills

1989

5.7

Movie
When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder?

When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder?

1979

6.2

Movie