(1925-2016)

Doris Roberts, the Emmy Award-winning actress known best for her performance as Marie Barone on "Everybody Loves Raymond," died on April 17th, 2016 at the age of 90.

Born Doris May Green Nov. 4, 1925, in St. Louis, Missouri, Roberts took her stepfather's name, which became her professional name. Roberts took drama lessons when she was young, working odd jobs to raise money for tuition.

Her earliest roles were small, with many years of paying her dues before achieving success. She appeared on episodes of TV shows including "Studio One" and "Ben Casey." She played small roles on Broadway and in movies such as "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three." After beginning her professional acting career in the early 1950s, decades would pass before she had a regular, notable role.

She began to make waves on the short-lived sitcom "Angie," which ran from February 1979 to October 1980. She played the main character's mother, and though the show was an early ratings hit, it suffered in the wake of a time-slot shift and the marriage of the main character and her boyfriend. After its cancellation, Roberts played more small roles before moving on to the popular dramedy "Remington Steele," joining the cast in its second season.

It was in 1996 that Roberts took the role that would become her signature – Marie Barone, who was, like her "Angie" character, the mother of the title character, on the hit sitcom "Everybody Loves Raymond." She appeared in all of the show's 210 episodes over nine seasons, the only star other than lead actor Ray Romano to do so. Playing the interfering mother-in-law to perfection, Roberts won four Emmy awards, an American Comedy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and more.

In addition to her acting career, Roberts wrote the autobiography "Are You Hungry, Dear? Life, Laughs and Lasagna," and in 2002, she testified before Congress about the prevalence of age discrimination in Hollywood.  She supported animal welfare organizations such as Puppies Behind Bars, and she served as chairwoman of the Children with AIDS Foundation.  She was preceded in death by her second husband, William Goyen, in 1983.  She is survived by her son from her first marriage, Michael Cannata Jr.