Tanya Roberts’ Partner Discloses Cause of Death, Clarifies Mix-Up
Tanya Roberts’ cause of death has been revealed as her grieving partner Lance O’Brien spoke out to explain how the mix-up over her death came to be. The Charlie’s Angels actress and Bond girl sadly died on Monday evening aged 65 at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles.
It came after Roberts was reported to be alive despite the premature death announcement, causing confusion. Roberts’ rep Mike Pingel confirmed her death to Metro.co.uk on Tuesday and said in a statement: ‘With a heavy heart I can confirm the death of Tanya Roberts (age 65) last night on January 4, 2021 around 9:30pm PT at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, CA. ‘Her 18-year domestic partner Lance O’Brien received the phone call from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center last night at their home confirming her passing. ‘Roberts’ cause of death was from a urinary tract infection which spread to her kidney, gallbladder, liver and then blood stream. ‘Today, January 5, 2021 at 10:00am PT, O’Brien picked up Roberts’ personal possessions from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.’
Pingel continued: ‘Roberts was an animal rights activist. In lieu of flowers, they are asking for donations to be given in Roberts name to the ASPCA. ‘An online memorial for Tanya Roberts will be announced shortly.
The family ask for privacy as they mourn her death.’ Speaking about the tragic events of the past few days, O’Brien told TMZ on his way to collect her personal effects at the hospital: ‘What’s got this whole thing screwed up is the Covid thing; I couldn’t even see her in the hospital. ‘They took her away on December 24, they go, “OK, she’s getting better”.
They gave her some blood sugar because her sugar was low and she’s responding. ‘I thought this was going to be a short-lived event, going to the hospital and the next thing they go, “she’s in an emergency room, you can’t visit her and you can’t talk to her because she’s on a ventilator”.’ O’Brien revealed how when he visited her two days ago, Roberts ‘looked up’ and opened up eyes.
He told the doctors that she was ‘responding’ but they explained it was ‘just a reflex’. ‘Then about 90 seconds later her eyes rolled back in her head, she was out and I was just beside myself,’ he said.
Detailing the mix-up, O’Brien said: ‘Mike [Pingel, Roberts’ rep] asked me, “What happened?” and I said, “I just said bye to Tanya” and that was that. ‘I came home, went to bed and just passed out and the next thing I’m reading on TMZ that she died and my phone starts blowing up.’
