Roberts grew up on Long Island and also in upstate New York, where she learned to dance and became an accomplished athlete before her years of touring the U.S. as an entertainer.
She danced with Horace Nichols, with whom she had earlier won the title, "King and Queen of Shag" at the Paramount Theatre, N.Y. Roberts was also a prizewinning athlete, New York State Cue Champion, and expert riflewoman.
In 1943, Physical Culture magazine reported that, as a youngster in upstate New York, Roberts was "the best feminine baseball player in the county, and was hard to beat at tennis, basketball and swimming".
[1] Similarly, the Sunday Mirror reported that 22-year-old Roberts, "once had a run of 93 in three cushion billiards, bowls a neat 200 and finished last season batting .405 ... and has the trophies to prove it ... She has won 11 plaques for excellence in sports since she's been in show business, and her accomplishments range from swimming and track to stud poker.
Between shows at the Earle Theatre in Philadelphia, she shot pool with Bunny Berigan, "the greatest white trumpet player who ever lived," according to Louis Armstrong.
Roberts was a specialist tap dancer in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1943,[3] at the Winter Garden Theater, in which she partnered with Milton Berle in one of her dance numbers.
During her career, Roberts also performed on Broadway, at the Copacabana (N.Y.), the Troika (Washington, D. C.), The Rainbow Room (N.Y.), The Chez Paree (Chicago), the Orpheum (San Francisco), and other venues.