Accepted as a teenager for dramatic training at Eva Le Gallienne's Civic Repertory Theatre company.
Educated at P.S. 35 and 44 in Brooklyn, then to a private school at Carrs Academy.
For many years, she shared a home with Wynne Gibson.
Head of Theatre Authority for 24 years.
Known for her assertive, tough-edged dames in Warner Bros. potboilers, her lady characters did everything from running a lumber camp and operating a fleet of buses to running medical missions overseas.
Lived with actress Wynne Gibson for many years until the latter's death in 1987 of a cerebral thrombosis in Laguna Niguel, California, after suffering an attack in the home she shared with Ms. Roberts.
Made her Broadway debut in "Girls in Uniform" in the early 30s.
Of English, Dutch, German and Welsh heritage, her father was a salesman and mother once worked at a bank before turning homemaker.
Studied under Maria Ouspenskaya