- When she was a child, Doris's father abandoned her and her mother, which forced her mother Ann to single-handedly raise Doris on her own.
- She beat out 100 other actresses for her role of Marie Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond (1996).
- Attended and graduated from New York University where she majored in journalism.
- She guest-starred in the situation comedy episode, Rayny Day (1999), as Marie Barone, her character from Everybody Loves Raymond (1996).
- She played the wife of Peter Boyle on Everybody Loves Raymond (1996). On the sitcom, their characters were supposed to be the same age. In real-life, Roberts was 10 years older than Boyle.
- She was originally cast as Vivian Harmon on Maude (1972), but the producers thought she was too much like main star Bea Arthur. After shooting the pilot, she was replaced by Rue McClanahan.
- She resided in a home once rented by James Dean.
- She testified before a U.S. Congressional panel how the entertainment industry has made aging a detriment to hiring on September 4, 2002.
- She appeared in every episode of Everybody Loves Raymond (1996).
- Doris's son, Michael Cannata, was her manager.
- Best known by the public for her roles as Mildred Krebs on Remington Steele (1982) and as Marie Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond (1996).
- Had one son: Michael Cannata (born 1957). Had three grandchildren: Kelsey Cannata, Andrew Cannata and Devon Cannata.
- Her stepfather, whose surname she took as her own, was Chester H. Roberts, whose name is included with Ann and Doris Green in the 1940 census as "lodger". Chester and Ann Roberts operated the Z.L. Rosenfield Agency, a stenographic service catering to playwrights and actors.
- She played Charles Grodin's mother in The Heartbreak Kid (1972), although she was only 10 years older than he was.
- She was the founder of the Doris Roberts-William Goyen Fellowship in Fiction through the Christopher Isherwood Foundation in 2001. The monetary award is given annually and intended to support writers who have published at least one book of fiction, either a novel or a collection of stories.
- Although she often claimed she was born in 1930 (through many registrations and personal interviews). The exact census and birth records indicate that she was actually born in 1925. The latter date is on her death certificate and grave marker.
- She won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Actress for the Off-Broadway play, "Bad Habits".
- She appeared in one of the final episodes of Desperate Housewives (2004).
- She studied drama at HB Studio in Greenwich Village, New York City.
- Attended the opening night screening of Towards the Moon with Fellini (1990) at the 2006 Beverly Hills Film Festival, where Mikhail Vartanov and Dominique Swain were also present.
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