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

Known For: Acting

Born: Los Angeles, California, USA, 1918-09-24

Died: 1997-10-16

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1941	Manpower	Nurse (uncredited)	67
2	1941	One Foot in Heaven	Mother (uncredited)	66
3	1941	Dangerously They Live	Nurse (uncredited)	59
4	1942	The Male Animal	Student (uncredited)	41
5	1958	An American Girl	Mrs. Davis	0
6	1971	Taking Off	Ann Lockston	69
7	1972	The Heartbreak Kid	Mrs. Corcoran	66
8	1974	The Canterville Ghost	Mrs. Otis	60
9	1977	The New Love Boat	Mae Allen	10
10	1978	Getting Married	Catherine Lawrence	40
11	1979	When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder?	Ceil Ryder	62
12	1979	Pat Boone and Family: A Christmas Special	Self	0
13	1980	The Silent Lovers	Laura Hope Crews	35
14	1980	Revenge of the Stepford Wives	Barbara Parkinson	51
15	1981	Skyward Christmas	Billie	0
16	1982	The Day the Bubble Burst	Evangeline Adams	20
17	1982	Cannery Row	Fauna Flood	59
18	1982	Best Friends	Ann Babson	51
19	1985	Desert Hearts	Frances Parker	70
20	1986	Sunday Drive	Aunt Joan	0
21	1987	Stamp of a Killer	Granny	50
22	1988	Perry Mason: The Case of the Lady in the Lake	Mrs. Chaney	68
23	1988	Spellbinder	Mrs. White	59
24	1988	Take My Daughters, Please	Rebecca	0
25	1989	Bridesmaids	Lulu	60
26	1989	Troop Beverly Hills	Frances Temple	57
27	1991	Absolute Strangers	Anne Zusselman	0
28	1992	Just My Imagination	Elizabeth Thompson	20
29	1994	Hart to Hart: Crimes of the Hart	Katherine Kendrick	62
30	1994	The Corpse Had a Familiar Face	Monica/Edna's mother	35
31	1994	The New Age	Sandi Rego	54
32	1995	Deadline for Murder: From the Files of Edna Buchanan	Jean	50
33	1995	Sudden Death	Mrs. Ferrara	60
34	1997	The Relic	Dr. Matilda Zwiezic	60
35	1997	Sisters and Other Strangers	Irene Connelly	0

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1948	The Philco Television Playhouse		63
2	1950	Robert Montgomery Presents		56
3	1950	Robert Montgomery Presents	Maggie	56
4	1950	Lux Video Theatre	Irene Stoddard	63
5	1950	Lux Video Theatre	Olive	63
6	1950	Lux Video Theatre	Nurse Claxton	63
7	1951	Search for Tomorrow		70
8	1958	From These Roots	Laura Tompkins	35
9	1958	Naked City	Sheila Braden	55
10	1958	Naked City	Grace Youngham	55
11	1958	Naked City	Mrs. Denton	55
12	1960	Route 66		63
13	1961	The Mike Douglas Show	Self	54
14	1964	Another World		56
15	1972	Bridget Loves Bernie	Amy Fitzgerald	67
16	1974	Chico and the Man		58
17	1975	The Bob Crane Show		55
18	1975	Fay	Lillian	50
19	1977	Three's Company	Helen Roper	77
20	1977	The Love Boat	Anita Wolfe	63
21	1977	The Love Boat	Mrs. Worth	63
22	1977	The Love Boat	Portia Fairchild	63
23	1977	The Love Boat	Agnes Larrabee	63
24	1977	The Love Boat	Vanessa Norris	63
25	1978	Pearl	Lily - General's Wife	64
26	1979	The Ropers	Helen Roper	57
27	1984	Murder, She Wrote	Maggie Saunders	75
28	1986	Matlock		71
29	1989	Tales from the Crypt	Anita	80
30	1994	Friends	Frances	84

Audra Lindley

Film

Television