
Acting
Audra Lindley
Born 1918-09-24 · Los Angeles, California, USA
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 Three's Company and its spin-off, 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 stand-in, which eventually progressed to stunt work. Nothing panned out, and she went to New York in her mid-20s to work in theater. Among her many Broadway plays were: On Golden Pond, Playhouse 90, Long Day's 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 six-year stint as manipulative "Aunt Liz" Matthews on the NBC soap opera Another World. She also had regular roles as Meredith Baxter's mother in the sitcom Bridget Loves Bernie, as well as Lee Grant's 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 Three's Company (1977). (Lindley wore a wig to maintain the character's 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 lesbian-themed 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 Buffay's grandmother on Friends, and her last, a recurring role as Cybill Shepherd's mother on the CBS sitcom Cybill. She had also played Shepherd's 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 (1943–1960); they had five children. She later married and divorced James Whitmore (1972–1979) Description above from the Wikipedia article Audra Lindley, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
Acting credits
6.2A homicide detective teams up with an evolutionary biologist to hunt a giant creature that is killing people in a Chicago museum.
The Relic
1997
6.0When a man's daughter is suddenly taken during a championship hockey game – with the captors demanding a billion dollars by game's end – he frantically sets a plan in motion to rescue her and abort an impending explosion before the final buzzer.
Sudden Death
1995
5.7A Beverly Hills housewife in the middle of a divorce tries to find focus in her life by taking over her daughter's Wilderness Girls troop.
Troop Beverly Hills
1989
6.5Hank McHenry and Johnny Marshall work as power company linesmen. Hank is injured in an accident and subsequently promoted to foreman of the gang. Tensions start to show in the road crew as rivalry between Hank and Johnny increases.
Manpower
1941
7.1While waiting for her divorce papers, a repressed literature professor finds herself unexpectedly attracted by a carefree, spirited young woman named Cay.
Desert Hearts
1985
10.0Two identical cars pull up to a restaurant, one belonging to a childless couple who are taking care of their niece and nephew while their parents are away, who are out on a Sunday drive. The other belonging to a guy who is on his way to meet his fiance and to begin working for her father. In his car is his dog, whom the couple mistake for the children, when they get into his car and drive. While he goes into their car and the children are under a blanket and he mistakenly assumes it's his dog. When they discover the mistake they are both so far away from each other that they don't know what to do.
Sunday Drive
1986
5.3When a professional couple, who have lived and worked together for many years, finally decide to marry, their sudden betrothal causes many unexpected difficulties. They soon find that being married is often quite different from being "best friends."
Best Friends
1982
5.9After leaving work one night, Los Angeles attorney Jeff Mills and his colleague rescue a young, beautiful woman from an abusive boyfriend. Jeff soon becomes romantically involved with her and embroiled in the web of intrigue that follows her, despite a string of ominous happenstances and repeated warnings from his secretary.
Spellbinder
1988
6.7Three days into his Miami honeymoon with needy and unsophisticated Lila, Lenny meets tall, blonde Kelly. This confirms his fear that he has made a serious mistake and he decides he wants to be with Kelly instead.
The Heartbreak Kid
1972
5.6Peter and Katherine Witner are Southern California super-yuppies with great jobs but no center to their lives. When they both lose their jobs and begin marital infidelities, their solution is to start their own business together. In order to find meaning to their empty lives, they follow various New Age gurus and other such groups. Eventually, they hit rock bottom and have to make some hard decisions.
The New Age
1994
6.9Unable to deal with her parents, Jeannie Tyne runs away from home. Larry and Lynn Tyne search for her, and in the process meet other people whose children ran away. With their children gone, the parents are now free to rediscover/enjoy life.
Taking Off
1971
5.9Doc, who has just moved to Cannery Row, realizes that the only entertainment is the brothel. There he meets the spunky Suzy and they fall in love, giving them both a renewed chance at life.
Cannery Row
1982
6.9A woman suddenly disappears after an early morning walk, and her husband is accused of murder.
Perry Mason: The Case of the Lady in the Lake
1988
4.5The trustees of Midwestern University have forced three teachers out of their jobs for being suspected communists. Trustee Ed Keller has also threatened mild mannered English Professor Tommy Turner, because he plans to read a controversial piece of prose in class. Tommy is upset that his wife Ellen also suggested he not read the passage. Meanwhile, Ellen's old boyfriend, the football player Joe Ferguson, comes to visit for the homecoming weekend. He takes Ellen out dancing after the football rally, causing Tommy to worry that he will lose her to Joe.
The Male Animal
1942
5.7A pregnant mother and her young son become the target of a killer.
Stamp of a Killer
1987
7.0Inspired by the the life of Pulitzer Prize-winning, Miami-based journalist, Edna Buchanan, who investigates the murder of a man with ties to the Miami mafia.
Deadline for Murder: From the Files of Edna Buchanan
1995
5.3A TV reporter arrives in the quiet town of Stepford to launch an investigation into why the town has the lowest divorce and crime rates in America. However, she begins to notice some bizarre behavior in the women of the town, discovering that Stepford is not as clean-cut as it seems.
Revenge of the Stepford Wives
1980
6.3A New York City doctor tries to rescue a young woman from Nazi agents.
Dangerously They Live
1941
A woman with four single daughters sets out to try and get them married.
Take My Daughters, Please
1988
6.9Episodic look at the life of a minister and his family as they move from one parish to another.
One Foot in Heaven
1941
6.0A man falls madly in love with a pretty newscaster and goes all out to win her heart and her hand in marriage before she weds another man.
Getting Married
1978
6.8Four very different women, best friends during high school many years earlier, gather in the small town where they grew up for a reunion as bridesmaids in preparation for a wedding for a fifth friend.
Bridesmaids
1989
5.0A fictionalized account of how the 1929 stock market crash hurt the elite and the struggling, and the forces that may have caused the crash to occur.
The Day the Bubble Burst
1982
7.0The ghost of Sir Simon Canterville has been roaming his castle searching in vain for a descendant who will release him from the Canterville curse by performing a brave deed. An American family moves in and finds the ghost amusing, but a young girl in the family can release him - if she dares.
The Canterville Ghost
1974