Born in Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York, on December 29, 1936, Mary Tyler Moore’s family moved to California when she was eight years old. The oldest of three siblings, she had a troubled childhood due to her mother’s alcoholism. She married upon graduating from a Catholic high school in 1955, and her only child, Richie, was born soon after. She began her career as a dancer in 1955 in the role of a dancing kitchen appliance, the Happy Hotpoint elf, and was often seen during commercial breaks of the popular television series, “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.” Her lovely legs reached stardom before the rest of her as they appeared without her face in the opening credits on the television show, “Richard Diamond, Private Detective” (1957) which starred David Janssen.
She became famous after being cast as Laura Petrie in the classic “Dick Van Dyke Show” (1961). The entire cast made the series a tremendous success, and she and her fellow performers received multiple Emmy awards for their work. She went through a divorce at this time, and then married network executive, Grant Tinker. After the “Dick Van Dyke Show” went off the air, she focused her energies on movie making and appeared in five of them before undertaking “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” that was so popular in the 1970s. Some of these included: “Thoroughly Modern Millie”(1967), “Change of Habit” (1969) and “Run A Crooked Mile” (1969).
The “Mary Tyler Moore Show,” which ran from 1970-1977 was unique in many ways. Its comedy arose not from gags or funny lines, but rather from the interactions of all the characters. It was also the first time a woman (Mary Richards) was depicted on television as being single, happy and independent. The show is considered a classic in television history to this day.
Moore found it difficult to elude the Mary Richards persona, but persisted and won with her performances in “Ordinary People” (1980), “Finnegan Begins Again” (1988) and “Stolen Babies” (1993), for which she won her sixth Emmy Award. She also won a Tony Award for her Broadway performance in “Whose Life Is It Anyway?”
She has had more than her share of sorrow. Both of her siblings predeceased her, her sister from a drug overdose in 1978 and her brother from cancer. Her troubled son accidentally killed himself in 1980, and she has long been an insulin-dependent diabetic. She is a spokesperson for diabetes and animal rights, and after divorcing Tinker in 1981, has since married physician, Dr. Robert Levine. Together since 1983, the couple lives in Upstate New York and Manhattan.
What are some of YOUR favorite Mary Tyler Moore performances?