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|---|---|---|---|---|
 Audra Lindley, shown here in a 1975 publicity photo for the film Fay, appeared as Helen Roper on both Three's Company and its spinoff The Ropers. | ||||
| Personal Information | ||||
| Birth name: | Audra Marie Lindley | |||
| Born: | September 24, 1918 [1] | |||
| Birthplace: | Los Angeles, California, U.S. [1] | |||
| Died | October 16, 1997 (aged 79) [1] | |||
| Deathplace: | Los Angeles, California, U.S. [1] | |||
| Career/Family Information | ||||
| Occupation/ Career: |
Actress | |||
| Years active: | 1941-1997, her death | |||
| Spouse(s): | Aaron Hardy Ulm (1943-1970, his death) James Whitmore (m. 1972, div. 1979) | |||
| Children: | Elizabeth Blalock Alice Ulm William Ulm John Francis Ulm (deceased) Herbert Ulm (deceased) | |||
| Character information | ||||
| Appeared on: | Three's Company and The Ropers | |||
| Character played: | Mrs. Roper | |||
Audra Marie Lindley (September 24, 1918 [1] – October 16, 1997) [1]became famous for her role as landlady Helen Roper on the ABC-TV sitcom Three's Company and its spin-off, The Ropers.
Career[]
Born in Los Angeles,[1] Audra was born 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 theatre plays were On Golden Pond, Long Day's Journey into Night, and Horse Heavens. She began to make steady appearances on television, including the role of Sue Knowles on the CBS-TV soap opera Search for Tomorrow, and a six-year stint as manipulative "Aunt Liz" Matthews on the NBC-TV soap opera Another World. She also had regular roles as Meredith Baxter's mother in the sitcom Bridget Loves Bernie (1973), as well as Lee Grant’s best friend in Fay (1975).
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) where she wore a wig to maintain the character’s exaggerated hairstyle. The character and her husband, Stanley (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).[2] She also appeared in 1989's Troop Beverly Hills as outspoken director of the Wilderness Girls.
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-TV sitcom series Cybill. (She had previously played Shepherd's mother in the 1972 film The Heartbreak Kid.)
Personal life / Death[]
Audra was married to Dr. Aaron Hardy Ulm, with whom she had five children before his death in 1970. She later married and divorced James Whitmore (1972–1979).[3] Audra died of leukemia on October 16, 1997, at Cedars Sinai Medical Center. [1]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Audra Lindley. The Broadway League. Retrieved on March 11, 2025.
- ↑ Audra Linley. Retrieved on July 26, 2020.
- ↑ Berkvist, Robert. "James Whitmore, Character Actor Skilled in One-Man Shows, Dies at 87", The New York Times, February 7, 2009
External links[]
- Audra Lindley article at Wikipedia
- Audra Lindley at Find a Grave
