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 Threes Company and its spinoff 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 standin which eventually progressed to stunt work Nothing panned out and she went to New York in her mid20s to work in theater Among her many Broadway plays were On Golden Pond Playhouse 90 Long Days 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 sixyear stint as manipulative Aunt Liz Matthews on the NBC soap opera Another World She also had regular roles as Meredith Baxters mother in the sitcom Bridget Loves Bernie as well as Lee Grants 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 Threes Company 1977 Lindley wore a wig to maintain the characters 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 lesbianthemed 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 Buffays grandmother on Friends and her last a recurring role as Cybill Shepherds mother on the CBS sitcom Cybill She had also played Shepherds 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 19431960 they had five children She later married and divorced James Whitmore 19721979 Description above from the Wikipedia article Audra Lindley licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia