There probably aren't very many Boomer males who haven't been in love with the beautiful Mary Tyler Moore. My older brothers fell for her as Laura Petrie. I was just a kid then, so I fell for Mary Richards when I was a teenager. And even today, she has aged gracefully, maintaining a timeless beauty that refuses to go away.
Mary herself is not a Boomer. She was born in 1936. But her beautiful smile and the popularity of her TV shows makes her a Boomer memory for sure.
There are many things I love about this talented actress. First of all, when she was born, she was named Mary Tyler Moore. I have always appreciated artists, especially actors and actresses, who felt comfortable keeping their own name. However, I DO understand why John Wayne decided not to go with Marion Morrison. ;-)
Mary's first moment on TV, which has been preserved, can be seen here. It was a Hotpoint appliance commercial for the Ozzie and Harriet Show. It caught the public's attention, and Mary was soon a regular guest star on shows like 77 Sunset Strip, Wanted: Dead or Alive, and Hawaiian Eye. She auditioned for the part of Danny Thomas's daughter on make Room for Daddy, but Danny himself vetoed her, saying her little pixie nose could never let her pass for his daughter.
In 1961, Carl Reiner envisioned a show about his misadventures writing for Sid Caesar's Your Show of Shows, and cast Dick Van Dyke as himself and Mary as Rob's understanding bride, Laura.
Dick was a good looking comedic genius who brought in the female viewers. Mary would have brought in the male demographic by being as funny as Adlai Stevenson, but it turned out she was a comedic genius herself. Double bonus.
Carl Reiner envisioned a series that would run for five years, then the plug would be pulled. And that's exactly what happened. The show was an incredible hit, and ended of its own accord after 158 wildly successful episodes. Its legacy is historically cemented in place by the fact that it was listed as "never jumped" at jumptheshark.com (before they opened the floodgates and let a bunch of mediocrities in).
What would be next for the lovely Ms. Moore? It would be 1970, with the debut of The Mary Tyler Moore Show.
The show was perfect for the era. Women's Lib was in full force, and a show about a gal who breaks off a bad relationship and moves to Minneapolis to start over was certain to be a hit with good writing and good acting. Once again, it scored big in both areas. Besides Mary, the show included a mixture of talents like Ed Asner, Valerie Harper, Betty White, Cloris Leachman, Gavin McCleod, and John Amos.
While Gloria Steinem was in full activist mode, Mary Richards chose to establish her independence with baby steps. The result was one of the most popular and successful sitcoms in history, even in the opinion of this writer, overshadowing the Dick Van Dyke show itself.
One of the single most hilarious moment on the show was when Chuckles the Clown met his demise. The funeral scene has to be seen to be believed. And thanks to YouTube, you can see it here.
Mary knows how to take her leave, and she took the show out on top in 1977, shortly before I graduated from high school. She proceeded into movies, playing a mother with issues in Robert Redford's directorial debut Ordinary People in 1980. She was nominated for an Academy Award, but fell short of winning it. The dark, cold character she played so brilliantly was certainly not Mary Richards or Laura Petrie. Its shock value may well have hurt her chances.
As I mentioned before, Mary has slid very gracefully into her golden years. She is an outspoken advocate of causes she supports, and still picks up an occasional acting gig (HER choice). She is also an essential part of Boomer memories, particularly for the guys who sought her qualities in the ladies they pursued.
Comments (5)
One of Mary's earliest roles was on "Richard Diamond, Private Detective." According to IMDB.com, "Sam (Mary Tyler Moore) the switchboard operator's legs and hands were all that were ever seen of her on-camera during this series. Moore's voice was heard on the soundtrack but her face was never revealed."
Mary also had a successful production company, putting out great hit series like The Bob Newhart Show," "WKRP in Cincinnati," "Hill Street Blues," "Remington Steele," "Lou grant," "The White Shadow," and many more.
Posted by David S Paleg | April 7, 2007 2:45 AM
Posted on April 7, 2007 02:45
That's true. It seemed like all MTM shows had a high standard of quality in an era that also featured crap like Three's Company, Too Gross (excuse me, CLOSE) for Comfort, and other forgettables.
Posted by Ron Enderland | April 7, 2007 9:06 AM
Posted on April 7, 2007 09:06
I was about 8 when MTM first hit the airwaves
in the 70's, and that opening song has a pavlovian way of unleashing every wonderful memory of growing up...such a great whistful song,
especially the you're gonna make it after all, with the famous still of the hat in mid-air at the end of the intro..........the only
couple sweet intros of the time to compare would be the wonderful opening (and endsong, composed by O'conner himself at the end), Mash, and maybe the first Bob newhart most of all, with the opening, "Hello"?, and then, bam bam, bam, bam
etc., which then segues
into a slow jazz sweet number 30 seconds in....
also used for the end credits.....
Posted by scott | July 17, 2007 2:46 AM
Posted on July 17, 2007 02:46
Sorry, the above O'conner reference refers to "All in the family"
Posted by scott | July 17, 2007 2:48 AM
Posted on July 17, 2007 02:48
Baby Baby! I liked her on the DVDS days the most! I tolerated her during the MTMS days. It was probably the womens lib thing the bothered me, (spoken from a chavenist pig I was) Lol! But it was a good show! And the last show did make you cry! And I liked the movie Ordinary people and she did a great job with it, but it make you think about her character?? And she is also a leader in awarness of diabetes in which she has battled most of her life and has done well! She has been around for a long time know and is a true classic! Their is a good segment on he on the Public Television series about television legends! I forget the name of it!
Posted by Rivers End | June 9, 2009 11:13 PM
Posted on June 9, 2009 23:13