Roberta Maxwell


Roberta Farnham Maxwell is a Canadian stage, film, and television actress.

Background

Maxwell began studying for the stage in her early teens. She joined John Clark for two years as the child co-host of his Junior Magazine series for CBC Television. She first performed at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in 1956.

Stratford Shakespeare Festival and England

She appeared as Ursula in Much Ado About Nothing, Lady Anne in Richard III, Olivia in Twelfth Night, and Anne in The Merry Wives of Windsor, before going on to England, where she spent three years in repertory. She made her West End debut with Robert Morley and Molly Picon in A Majority of One.
In 1982, she starred as Rosalind in the Stratford Festival's stage production of Shakespeare's As You Like It, a production which was videotaped and telecast on Canadian television in 1983. In 2011, she played the duchess of York in Richard III.

Broadway

She first traveled to New York at age 19 in 1960. She debuted on Broadway in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie in 1968, going on to five more plays with the Tyrone Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 1974, she was back on Broadway playing the role of Jill in Equus, which starred Anthony Hopkins and Peter Firth.

TV and film

She played Lavinia Mannion in the 1978 PBS adaption of Mourning Becomes Electra. In 2009-10 she appeared in two episodes of the Syfy series Warehouse 13.

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1960Just MaryUnknown episodes
1962Emergency-Ward 10Nurse Merritt2 episodes
1965FestivalRia HennessyEpisode: "A Cheap Bunch of Nice Flowers"
1974'Sara MelodyTV movie
1974Great PerformancesClaraEpisode: "The Widowing of Mrs. Holroyd"
1974Another WorldBarbara WeaverUnknown episode
1976'TV movie
1978For the RecordCarolEpisode: "A Matter of Choice"
1978Mourning Becomes ElectraLavinia MannonUnknown episodes
1982Lois Gibbs and the Love CanalMary BelinskiTV movie
1982Faerie Tale TheatreGriselda / Queen BeatriceEpisode: "The Tale of the Frog Prince"
1983As You Like ItRosalindTV movie
1983Special BulletinDiane SilvermanTV movie
1984St. ElsewhereCat LadyEpisode: "Hello, Goodbye"
1986-1987AirwavesJean Lipton26 episodes
1988All My ChildrenNanny Judith1 episode
1989Great PerformancesMrs. WebbEpisode: "Our Town"
1989'Episode: "Heart of Justice"
1989'MarybethEpisode: "The Dying Generation"
1996We the JuryLydia BoscoTV movie
1996MistrialJudge FrielTV movie
1997When Innocence Is LostCynthia AdamsTV movie
1997Liberty!Mercy Otis Warren4 episodes
1998As the End of the Day: The Sue Rodriguez StoryDoeTV movie
1999Shadow LakeLouise GarveyTV movie
1999Too Rich: The Doris Duke StoryMyraTV movie
1999Forget Me NeverTV movie
1999Twice in a LifetimeEloise Hawke / Eileen KotterEpisode: "School's Out"
2000Law & OrderTeresa BrewsterEpisode: "Collision"
2000'Mrs. ReynoldsEpisode: "Inner Child"
2000Life in a DayCarla JenningsTV movie
2000'Adult JuliaTV movie
2001What Makes a FamilyClaireTV movie
2002Scar TissueMora Carlisle-NevskyTV movie
2002Benjamin FranklinDeborah Read FranklinTV miniseries documentary
3 episodes
2003'LoisEpisode: "Death by Landscape"
2004Gracie's ChoiceJudgeTV movie
2005Vinegar HillEllen's MotherTV movie
2005Riding the Bus with My SisterValerieTV movie
2005Queer as FolkMichael's LawyerEpisode: "5.3"
2006Booky Makes Her MarkAunt AggieTV movie
2006'NelleTV movie
2009-2010Warehouse 13Rebecca St. Clair2 episodes
2010Rookie BlueMarie D'AbramoEpisode: "Bullet Proof"
2017The Gabriels: Election Year in the Life of One FamilyPatricia Gabriel3 episodes

YearTitleRoleNotes
1958Two Gentlemen of VeronaUrsula
1968'VariousUnderstudy: Sister Helena, Sandy
1968-1969'Handmaiden / Chorus
1968-1969'Betty Dullfeet
1969King Henry VIKatherine
1970OthelloDesdemona
1970Hay FeverSorel Bliss
1972There's One in Every MarriageLucienne
1973'Nora Clitheroe
1973'Jessica
1974-1977EquusJill Mason
1977'Portia Contarini
1988-1989Our TownMrs. Webb
1996Summer and SmokeMrs. Winemiller
2015Indian InkEleanor SwanAmerican Conservatory Theater production
2016The Gabriels: Election Year In the Life of One Family Patricia GabrielPlay Cycle by Richard Nelson at The Public Theater

Awards and recognition