Lyda Roberti

Roberti died from a heart attack while bending to tie her shoelace. She was awarded a CBE in 2001. She began to work less frequently although two days before her death she performed a radio show with Al Jolson. Shaw has also worked in film and television, including My Left Foot, Jane Eyre, Persuasion, Gormenghast, and the Harry Potter films, in which she plays the insufferable Petunia Dursley. Roberti replaced Thelma Todd in a couple of films after the death of Todd, but her health was failing due to heart disease. Shaw collaberated with Warner on a number of occassions, on both stage and screen. In Roberta (1935), Ginger Rogers played the role that Roberti had originated on Broadway, with reviewers commenting that Rogers' performance was a completely accurate imitation of Roberti's idiosyncratic speech and mannerisms. She controversially played the lead in Richard II, directed by Deborah Warner in 1995.

She found success as a comedienne and was also popular as a singer on radio. Other notable stage roles include Celia in As You Like It (1984), Madame de Volanges in Dangerous Liaisons (1985), Katherine in The Taming of the Shrew (1987), the title role in Elektra (1988) and Hedda Gabler (1991). Her sexy but playful characterisations, along the unusual accent she had acquired during her years in Europe and Asia, made her popular with audiences. After training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London, she received much acclaim as Julia in the National Theatre production of Richard Sheridan's The Rivals, a role which demonstrated her gift for comedy. She moved to Hollywood and during the 1930s played in a string of films. She was born in County Cork, Ireland, and is widely regarded as one of the finest classical actresses of the age. She made her Broadway debut in You Said It in 1931, and with its success became an overnight sensation. Fiona Shaw (born 10 July 1958) is a leading Irish stage actress who regularly appears in London theatre.

They moved to the United States in the late 1920s where Roberti began singing in nightclubs. As the family toured Europe and Asia, Roberti's mother left her husband, settling in Shanghai, China where the younger Roberti earned money singing. Born in Warsaw, Poland, Roberti was the daughter of a clown and as a child performed in the circus as a trapeze artist, and as a singer on vaudeville. Lyda Roberti (May 20, 1906 - March 12, 1938) was a film actress.