After days of false reports, it’s been confirmed that Tanya Roberts has died at the age of 65.
Her partner, Lance O’Brien, told TMZ, which was first to report the news, that Roberts’ doctors called him just after 9:00 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 4 to notify him of Roberts’ passing. He told Fox News the actress had been hospitalized for complications of a UTI that he claimed spread to her kidneys, liver and gallbladder before it “got into her blood.”
The news comes shortly after a premature death announcement was made. According to NBC News, the star was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after collapsing on Christmas Eve. Roberts’ rep, Mike Pingel, told the news organization O’Brien claimed to have been asked by hospital staff to come in and say his final goodbyes. O’Brien reportedly called Pingel afterwards and told him Roberts had died. On Jan. 3, Pingel alerted the media, including TMZ, which was first to report the false news.
But on Jan. 4, Pingel told NBC News Roberts was still alive. During an interview with Inside Edition that morning, O’Brien received a phone call from the hospital informing him that Roberts had not passed away.
“Now you’re telling me that she’s alive?” he said at the time. “Oh, thank the lord! Thank god.”
Soon, O’Brien began to cry. “The hospital’s telling me she’s alive, and they’re calling me from the ICU,” he said, later adding, “I’m so happy.”