Joan Roberts (July 15, 1917 – August 13, 2012) was an American actress, most famous for creating the role of Laurey in the original Broadway production of Oklahoma! in 1943. 　　Roberts was a regular on The Texaco Summer Theater on CBS July 4 - December 5, 1943. The program was a summer replacement for Fred Allen's show but was extended when Allen did not return as scheduled. 　　Sunny River was Roberts' first Broadway production. She played Madeleine Caresse December 4, 1941 - January 3, 1942.Later in 1942 she played in Hit the Deck with the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera. 　　Recently, Ms. Roberts conducted workshops on singing and voice projection. In 2011 she was honored by the University of North Carolina's School of the Arts while attending their replica production of the original Oklahoma! 　　She was in retirement for many years on Long Island, New York, when she appeared as Heidi Schiller in the 2001 Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim's Follies. Over the years she was seen in documentaries about Oscar Hammerstein II, George Abbott and in the film Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There. 　　On December 19, 1966, Roberts appeared in a production of Jack and the Beanstalk on CBS-TV. 　　On August 13, 2012, Roberts died of congestive heart failure, aged 95, according to her son. 　　Celeste Holm, who played Ado Annie in the same original production of Oklahoma!, had died only a month before, also at age 95.