View Full Version : Mary Tyler Moore (1936-2017)


Zoneboy
01-25-2017, 03:58 PM
She starred on 'The Dick Van Dyke Show' and on her eponymous sitcom, two of most acclaimed comedies ever, then acted against type to earn an Oscar nom for 'Ordinary People.'

Link (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/mary-tyler-moore-dead-actress-719799)

Mary Tyler Moore, whose roles as a perky housewife on The Dick Van Dyke Show in the 1960s and as a spunky, single working woman in her eponymous ’70s sitcom made her America’s sweetheart, has died. She was 80.

Moore played opposite her TV persona and received an Oscar nomination for her performance as an icy mother struggling to connect with her son in Robert Redford’s best-picture winner Ordinary People (1980).

The six-time Emmy Award winner had elective surgery in May 2012 to remove what is known as a meningioma, or benign tumor of the lining tissue of her brain.

Moore starred opposite Dick Van Duke as suburban stay-at-home mom Laura Petrie from 1961-66, then played Mary Richards — a hard-luck loser in love who moves across the state to Minneapolis and gets a job at local TV station WJM for the 6 o’clock news — from 1970-77.

The latter represented a bold move for a series’ main character to be an independent, never-married woman, and Moore became an icon for the feminist movement.

A native of Brooklyn who came with her family to Los Angeles when she was 8, Moore aspired to be a dancer. Her first big break came when she was cast as a dancing kitchen appliance — Happy Hotpoint, the Hotpoint Appliance elf — in commercials.

That led to appearances on several TV shows, including 1957’s Richard Diamond, Private Detective, in which Moore played Diamond's (David Janssen) sultry answering service girl. Her legs were shown, but never her face.

Moore had auditioned for the role of the older daughter on The Danny Thomas Show (also known as Make Room for Daddy) but failed to get the part (Thomas reportedly said that no daughter of his could have a nose that tiny). However, Thomas recommended Moore to Carl Reiner in 1961 when he was casting The Dick Van Dyke Show, the CBS series that was based on Reiner’s life and career as a writer for Sid Caesar's TV variety shows.

Moore started on The Dick Van Dyke Show at age 23 (she was 11 years younger than her male co-star). Often wearing capri pants instead of a dress — that caused quite a stir at the time — she took care of their young son Ritchie (Larry Mathews) and the house in New Rochelle, N.Y., while Van Dyke’s character, Rob, worked on a sitcom in Manhattan.

Moore won Emmys in 1964 and 1966, and the show collected 15 trophies in all.

In 1970, Moore and her second husband, Grant Tinker, a former ad executive and vp at Fox Television (and later chairman of NBC), pitched The Mary Tyler Moore Show to CBS. On the series, created by James Brooks and Allan Burns, Moore’s character has hundreds of dates but never finds true love. The premise of the single woman, alternating between work and home, would become a TV staple.

With the darling Moore as the centerpiece of an outstanding ensemble, the show was a ratings hit and won a then-record 29 Emmys, and she took home the best comedy actress trophies in 1973, 1974 and 1976. The sitcom, which closed with a third straight Emmy for best comedy series, anchored CBS' Saturday night lineup that also included All in the Family, M*A*S*H and The Carol Burnett Show.

The Mary Tyler Moore Show also spawned shows starring Ed Asner (Lou Grant), Cloris Leachman (Phyllis) and Valerie Harper (Rhoda), all produced by Moore and Tinker’s company, MTM Enterprises.

MTM, which was sold to a British company for $320 million in 1988, also produced such series as The Bob Newhart Show, WKRP in Cincinnati, Hill Street Blues and St. Elsewhere.

Moore and Tinker divorced in 1981, and she moved to New York City.

Two late-'70s efforts at a variety show followed and failed: Mary, which featured David Letterman and Michael Keaton, and The Mary Tyler Moore Hour, a backstage show within a show. In 1985, she returned to CBS in another series titled Mary, but that lasted just 13 episodes, and she played the title character in the short-lived 1988-89 comedy Annie McGuire.

For Ordinary People, his directorial debut, Redford cast Moore as Beth Jarrett, a frighteningly cold suburban mother who can't forgive her teenage son for living after his brother (her favorite son) dies.

Of Moore’s performance, Vincent Canby of The New York Times wrote: "(She) is remarkably fine, simultaneously delicate and tough and desperate.” The film won four Oscars, including one for Redford.

Moore had a film contract with Universal early in her career. She appeared in such movies as X-15 (1961), Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967), What's So Bad About Feeling Good? (1968), Don’t Just Stand There! (1968), Change of Habit (1969) opposite Elvis Presley, Six Weeks (1982) and Just Between Friends (1986).

In more recent years, Moore was seen on television in guest-starring roles on That '70s Show, Lipstick Jungle and Hot in Cleveland. She won her sixth Emmy for her performance in the 1993 miniseries Stolen Babies.

MTM Enterprises produced several Broadway plays, and she appeared on the stage in Whose Life Is It Anyway?, which opened on Broadway in 1980, ran for 96 performances and earned her a special Tony Award, and Sweet Sue, which bowed in 1987 and lasted 164 performances.

Moore wrote two autobiographies, which revealed the turmoil in her life. The first, released in 1995, acknowledged that she was an alcoholic, and the second, published in 2009, concentrated on living with diabetes.

Richie, her son with first husband Dick Meeker, died of an accidental and self-inflicted shotgun wound in 1980. He was 24. Two years earlier, her sister, Elizabeth, died at age 21 from a drug overdose. And her brother, John, died of liver cancer in 1992 at age 47.

Moore was married three times, the last time to cardiologist Robert Levine. He survives her.

PhoenixAcres
01-25-2017, 04:01 PM
:rip: Mary Tyler Moore

Regulus
01-25-2017, 04:21 PM
:rip:

MrCleveland
01-25-2017, 04:22 PM
Another TV legend gone... Farewell MTM...

bmasters9
01-25-2017, 06:09 PM
Mimsie, the face of her production label (from third-season Remington Steele DVD):

AB
01-25-2017, 07:06 PM
May she rest in peace.

Mr. Television
01-25-2017, 07:32 PM
http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/01/mary-tyler-moore-cloris-leachman-tribute



Mary Tyler Moore Was ‘Going Blind,’ Had Tumors In Last Days, Claims Costar Rose Marie
'She suffered so much,' says the 'Dick Van Dyke Show' actress, 93.
By Radar Staff


EXCLUSIVE
Mary Tyler Moore Was ‘Going Blind,’ Had Tumors In Last Days, Claims Costar Rose Marie
'She suffered so much,' says the 'Dick Van Dyke Show' actress, 93.
By Radar Staff
Posted on Jan 25, 2017 @ 16:31PM

Mary Tyler Moore experienced horrific pain and suffering during her final days, the late icon’s Dick Van Dyke Show costar and close friend Rose Marie told RadarOnline.com in an exclusive interview.

“Oh my God, she suffered so much these last few years,” the 93-year-old actress said of the Hollywood legend, who died today at 80 years old after a long history of medical crises. “She had a tumor and she had diabetes. She was going blind and she couldn’t hear very well, either.”

As Radar previously reported, Moore called 911 nine times in 2014 for various ailments and disputes, and was rushed to the hospital the following year twice in one day. In addition to diabetes, she reportedly suffered from Alzheimer’s and heart and kidney problems.

Despite Moore’s years of poor health, Marie claimed she was shocked by her friend’s death.



“I’m very upset right now,” she said. “I’m crying so hard, I can’t talk. We were good friends and I miss her already. This is very hard for me.”

Marie would get so emotional at any bad news, Moore’s family called longtime friend Dick Van Dyke, 91, who would later share any updates with the Love Boat star.

“Dick kept me informed,” Marie revealed. “He called me last night and said, ‘It’s very bad, honey. She’s going to go very soon now.'”



During her last conversation with her ailing costar, Marie says Moore sounded “very, very sick.”

The two reminisced about their good times together in past decades.

“We talked about how much fun we had on the show, the things we did on the show that we laughed about,” Marie recalls. “Mary said, ‘I miss you so much, dear.'”

“Our beautiful Mary is in a better place now. She’s with the angels! It’s where she belongs.”

Mr. Television
01-25-2017, 08:41 PM
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/dick-van-dykes-tribute-mary-tyler-moore-she-was-just-best-968672


Dick Van Dyke's Tribute to Mary Tyler Moore: "She Left an Imprint on Television Comedy"

3:57 PM PST 1/25/2017 by Dick Van Dyke, as told to Matthew Belloni




Mary Tyler Moore’s big career break came in 1961 when she was cast as Dick Van Dyke’s wife Laura on The Dick Van Dyke Show. Here Van Dyke, now 91, remembers his friend of six decades, who died Wednesday at age 80….

She was 23 years old, gorgeous of course, and had a kind of mid-Atlantic accent. She sounded a little bit like Katharine Hepburn. My first question was, “Can this girl do comedy?” After that I said, “She’s a little young for me.” I got to be on hand and watch her grow into the talent she became. She was just the best.

I don’t know what made her comic timing so great. On Dick Van Dyke, we had Morey Amsterdam and Rose Marie, both of whom were old hams and had razor-sharp timing, and mine wasn’t bad either. But Mary just picked it up so fast. She had us all laughing after a couple of episodes. She just grabbed onto the character and literally turned us into an improv group, it was so well-oiled. That show was the best five years of my life.



I remember when we all won Emmys. We were nominated — or at least I was — for the first years and there was no comedy category. We lost to The Defenders. It wasn’t until 1966 that they added a comedy category, and that year we all won. My God, we were excited. We had also been cancelled!

The funny thing was, after the show went off the air, Mary had the reputation of being the wife, the woman who brings the coffee. So we cooked up this special called Dick Van Dyke and the Other Woman where we showed off everything she could do, and that somehow changed CBS’ mind and that’s how she got The Mary Tyler Moore Show. It fell into the hands of great writers. It was a milestone, that show. It kicked off an awful lot of enthusiasm in a lot of women. She got it moving! Thank God she ended up with Carl Reiner and those writers, who just understood her and what she did. The episode when Chuckles the Clown died? She was at the funeral and she was crying and suddenly, as she recalled him, she began to laugh. It was a performance that had me on the floor! It was just masterful comedy.

In 2012, I got to present her with her SAG Life Achievement award. She had moved to upstate New York and was already beginning to succumb to the diabetes, so outside of talking to her and her husband Robert, I didn’t see her unless it was an occasion like the SAG Awards. That night, she had trouble seeing, so they had to bring her onstage in the dark. For me, it was a payoff moment. A culmination. Outside of her family, I don’t think there was anyone more proud of her than I was. Just to watch her grow was such a thrill for me. She left an imprint on television comedy.

king of comedy
01-25-2017, 10:35 PM
Rest in peace Mary. Now she can turn heaven on with her smile. Ted Knight is with her too.

Mr. Television
01-25-2017, 11:19 PM
http://www.etonline.com/news/208534_exclusive_carl_reiner_reveals_his_last_words_to_mary_tyler_moore_says_her_final_days_were_hospice_care/

EXCLUSIVE: Carl Reiner Reveals His Last Words to Mary Tyler Moore, Says Her Final Days Were in Hospice Care
by Raphael Chestang 5:58 PM PST, January 25, 2017

ET caught up with Carl Reiner on Wednesday, as The Dick Van Dyke Show creator was still coming to terms with the loss of his friend and former colleague, Mary Tyler Moore.

"I spoke to her husband the day or so before she passed away," Reiner tells ET. "I remember telling him, 'She may not hear you, but whisper in her ear that it's OK to go. You can go.'"



Moore died Wednesday from cardiopulmonary arrest after she had contracted pneumonia, her rep confirmed to ET.

Reiner says the last time he saw Moore was at a formal event, where the TV icon looked well, but he could tell that her health was waning.

"She had this childhood diabetes and had lost her sight -- practically all of it," Reiner recalls. "I came up to her, and she was looking at me, and she wasn't recognizing me until I spoke, and then she lit up. I realized she couldn't see me, and that was very sad."

According to Reiner, those close to the legendary actress were aware that she didn't have much time left.



"She spent her last months at home with hospice people around, not communicative," Reiner says. "We had known about it for a while, but you're never not shocked. When I turned on the television and learned Mary had gone, it was a shock. At 80. I'm 94 now, and I hope to go a few more years. I've got work to do."

Reiner and Moore's friendship dates back to when she was a fledgling actress in her early 20s, but even then, Reiner could tell that she had something special.

"She was one of these people -- and I think it's the fact that she was a dancer to begin with -- she was totally put together perfectly," he says. "If someone comes from Mars and says 'Show me what a human is,' or 'What does a human do?' we would show them Mary and Dick doing the soft shoe. It was my favorite moments from the show. It was magic."

Moore's big break came when she was cast as Laura Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show, where she was a trailblazer for women in television, but the role almost passed her by.



"She had failed twice that week," Reiner recalls. "She came in. She walked through the door and I saw those legs, that hair, those eyes. I gave her a page from the script and she read the first line. I heard what I called a ping in her voice, and I made my hand into a claw like they have at the arcades where you pick up candy. I grabbed her by the head and said, 'Come with me young lady.' I walked down the hall to Sheldon Leonard's office, our executive producer, and I said 'I found her,' and dropped her there. That was the beginning of a wonderful four or five years."

Since he wasn't able to be by her side when she passed, ET gave Reiner a chance to give a final message to Moore.

"Mary, you were the greatest," Reiner says. "You and Dick defined my life at one period, and I'll never forget you for what you did for me by being Laura Petrie."

Mr. Television
01-26-2017, 12:34 PM
http://parade.com/542656/nancyberk/growing-up-with-mary-tyler-moore-the-dick-van-dyke-shows-larry-mathews-shares-memories-of-his-tv-mom/

Growing Up with Mary Tyler Moore: The Dick Van Dyke Show's Larry Mathews Shares Memories of His TV Mom
January 25, 2017 – 7:58 PM – 0 Comments
13

By Dr. Nancy Berk


Among the legions of fans mourning the loss of beloved actress Mary Tyler Moore, is one who directly connected with her during The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961-1966). Larry Mathews was just 5 years old when he was cast as Ritchie Petrie, the adorable son of Moore’s character Laura Petrie. But over the course of his life, Mathews would come to know the many beautiful facets of Mary Tyler Moore—from maternal role model and mentor in his early days in the business to supportive peer during his adulthood.

Childhood memories are powerful. And many of Larry Mathews’ positive childhood memories include the popular Emmy-winning actress. Mary Tyler Moore was one of the central characters in Larry Mathews’ on-set life as Ritchie Petrie. “She was like a mother in a lot of ways…she was the figure there that I grew up with as a child…I’m lucky enough to have two wonderful families and Mary being a huge part of that,” said Mathews in our conversation today after learning of Moore’s passing.

Mathews recalls Moore as part mother, teacher, and big sister on the set of the iconic series. Living on opposite coasts, there weren’t many face-to-face opportunities for the former fictional mother-son duo in the later years. He last saw Moore in 2004 during the filming of The Dick Van Dyke Show Revisited. It is perhaps their last interaction that Mathews has been revisiting and holding closest to him today.

During a lunch break between filming, Moore praised Mathews for his acting, his post-production career and his character. Then she approached his real life mother who was with him. Mathews choked up as he summarized Moore’s words,‘“[She said] ‘By the way,…you have an amazing son…He is an amazing man and he has done so many good things in his life, and I’m so proud of him. And you should be too.’”

Said Mathews upon reflection, “It was such a wonderful piece of closure…It overwhelmed me and I think of it all the time actually.”

As we say goodbye to a legend, it is always a gift to learn of those real-life moments that make them as human as the next person, and as good as the people we had hoped they truly were. Mathews summed it up beautifully, just like a dear friend and beloved son.

“Always kind, always gracious, always helpful and always a professional. And that was Mary… to me.”

Dude111
01-26-2017, 02:02 PM
Very sad indeed :(

Mr. Television
01-26-2017, 03:47 PM
Here's a video with Dick Van Dyke on this morning's CBS This Morning.

http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/dick-van-dyke-on-mary-tyler-moores-legacy/

Ohio8
01-27-2017, 08:32 PM
:rip:

TMC
02-02-2017, 06:31 PM
http://www.vulture.com/2017/01/dick-van-dyke-show-mary-tyler-moore-episodes.html

During the show's five-year run, she became the Mary Tyler Moore we remember today.

D-Dey
02-03-2017, 02:09 PM
:rip:

I was looking for another occasion to post this six year old blog, but you just chose it for me.

http://childoftv.blogspot.com/2011/10/dick-van-dyke-show-blogathon-in-praise.html

I was kind of hoping I'd get your pic with my reply.

OH Nuts!
02-04-2017, 09:22 AM
She was beloved every which way; she'll be deeply missed and this just makes me treasure my DVDs of her even more.

D-Dey
02-06-2017, 10:24 AM
She was 23 years old, gorgeous of course, and had a kind of mid-Atlantic accent. She sounded a little bit like Katharine Hepburn. My first question was, “Can this girl do comedy?” After that I said, “She’s a little young for me.”
You know, that just worked so well with the episode "Laura's Little Lie."

lakesgirl
02-06-2017, 01:09 PM
Being from Minneapolis, this is my favorite picture of Mary. RIP.

215331