Mary Tyler Moore (born December 29, 1936) is an American actress, primarily known for her roles in television sitcoms.
Moore is best known for
The Mary Tyler Moore ShowThe Mary Tyler Moore Show is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns that aired on CBS from September 19, 1970 to March 19, 1977...
(1970–1977), in which she starred as
Mary RichardsMary Richards is a fictional character the main character, played by Mary Tyler Moore, in the long-running television sitcom, Mary Tyler Moore....
, a 30-something single woman who worked as a local news producer in Minneapolis, and for her earlier role as
Dick Van DykeRichard Wayne “Dick” Van Dyke is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer with a career spanning six decades...
's wife on
The Dick Van Dyke ShowThe Dick Van Dyke Show is an American television sitcom which initially aired on CBS from October 3, 1961 and ran until June 1, 1966. The show was created by Carl Reiner and starred Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore. A three-camera/studio audience format was used during production...
(1961–1966). She also appeared in a number of films, most notably 1980's
Ordinary PeopleOrdinary People is a 1980 American film drama that marked the directorial debut of Robert Redford. The story concerns the disintegration of an upper middle class family in Lake Forest, Illinois, following the death of the oldest son...
, in which she played a role that was the polar opposite of the television characters she had portrayed, and for which she was nominated for an
Academy Award for Best ActressPerformance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
.
Moore has also been active in charity work and various political causes, particularly on behalf of
Animal rightsAnimal rights, also referred to as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of humans...
and
Diabetes mellitus type 1Diabetes mellitus type 1 is a form of diabetes mellitus. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that results in destruction of insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas...
.
Early life
Moore, eldest of three siblings, was born in the
Brooklyn HeightsBrooklyn Heights is a neighborhood within the New York City borough of Brooklyn; originally designated through popular reference as 'Brooklyn Village', it has, since 1834, become a prominent area of the Brooklyn borough. As of 2000, the Brooklyn Heights sustained a population of 22,493 people. The...
section of Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of Marjorie (née Hackett) and George Tyler Moore, a clerk. Her maternal grandparents were natives of
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Her family moved to
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the municipality of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123.445 inhabitants...
,
CaliforniaCalifornia is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
when she was eight years old (some sources say 10). She attended Saint Rose of Lima Roman Catholic school in
BrooklynBrooklyn is one of the five boroughs of New York City, located southwest of Queens on the western tip of Long Island. An independent city until its consolidation with New York in 1898, Brooklyn is New York City's most populous borough, with 2.5 million residents, and second largest in area...
, St. Ambrose School in
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the municipality of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123.445 inhabitants...
on Fairfax, and the
Immaculate Heart High SchoolImmaculate Heart High School is a Catholic, all-girl, college preparatory school located in the Los Feliz neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, at the intersection of Franklin Avenue and Los Feliz/Western Avenue. There are 200 students in the middle school and 521 in the high school . It is...
on Los Feliz Boulevard in Hollywood, California.
Television
At the age of 17, Moore aspired to be a dancer. She started her career as "Happy Hotpoint", a tiny
elfAn elf is a creature of Germanic mythology. The elves were originally thought of as a race of minor nature and fertility gods, who are often pictured as youthful-seeming men and women of great beauty living in forests and underground places and caves, or in wells and springs...
dancing on
HotpointThe Hotpoint Electric Heating Company is a British brand of home appliance and dental supply makers which was recently acquired by Italian competitor Indesit and merged with its Ariston brand into Hotpoint-Ariston. In North America hotpoint is the "value" brand of GE...
appliancesHome appliances are electrical/mechanical appliances which accomplish some household functions, such as cooking or cleaning.Traditionally, home appliances are classified into:*Major appliances *Small appliances...
in TV commercials during the 1950s series
Ozzie and HarrietThe Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet is an American sitcom, airing on ABC from October 3, 1952 to September 3, 1966, starring the real life Nelson family. The series starred Ozzie Nelson and his wife, singer Harriet Nelson , and their young sons, David Nelson and Eric Nelson, better known as Ricky...
. She filmed 39 TV spots in five days, ultimately earning about $6,000 from the first job of her career. Her time as "Happy Hotpoint" ended when it became difficult to conceal her pregnancy in the dancing
elfAn elf is a creature of Germanic mythology. The elves were originally thought of as a race of minor nature and fertility gods, who are often pictured as youthful-seeming men and women of great beauty living in forests and underground places and caves, or in wells and springs...
costumeThe term costume can refer to wardrobe and dress in general, or to the distinctive style of dress of a particular people, class, or period. Costume may also refer to the artistic arrangement of accessories in a picture, statue, poem, or play, appropriate to the time, place, or other circumstances...
.
Moore anonymously modelled on the covers of a number of record albums and auditioned for the role of the older daughter of
Danny ThomasDanny Thomas was an American nightclub comedian and television and film actor, best known for starring in the television sitcom Make Room for Daddy, or The Danny Thomas Show. He is also the founder of St...
for his long-running hit TV show, but was turned down. Much later, Thomas explained that "no daughter of mine could have that [little] nose." Moore's first regular television role was as a telephone receptionist on the show
Richard Diamond, Private DetectiveRichard Diamond, Private Detective is a detective drama which was on radio from 1949 to 1953 and on television from 1957 to 1960.-Radio:Dick Powell starred in the Richard Diamond, Private Detective radio series as a rather light-hearted detective who often ended the episodes singing to his...
; in that series, only her
legAlthough in common usage, the human leg or leg can refer to the entire lower extremity or limb of the human body, including the foot, thigh and even the hip or gluteal region, the precise definition in human anatomy refers to the section of the lower limb extending between the knee and the...
s were shown and voice heard. About this time, she guest starred on
John CassavetesJohn Nicholas Cassavetes was an American actor, screenwriter and filmmaker. He appeared in many Hollywood films. He is most notable as an influential pioneer of independent film...
's
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
detective series
Johnny StaccatoJohnny Staccato is an American private detective series which ran for twenty-seven episodes on NBC from September 10, 1959 through March 24, 1960.-Synopsis:...
. In 1960, she guest starred in two episodes, "The O'Mara's Ladies" and "All The O'Mara's Horses", of the
William BendixWilliam Bendix was an American film actor.-Early life:Bendix, named for his paternal grandfather, was born in Manhattan, New York City, the only son of Cleveland-born Oscar and London-born Hilda Bendix...
-
Doug McClureDouglas Osborne McClure was an American actor whose career in film and television extended from the 1950s to the 1990s...
NBC
westernThe Western is a fiction genre seen in film, television, radio, literature, painting and other visual arts. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the later half of the 19th century in what became the Western United States , but also in Western Canada, Mexico , Alaska The Western...
series,
Overland TrailOverland Trail is a short-lived American Western series which aired on NBC from February 7 to June 6, 1960. The series starred William Bendix and Doug McClure,-Synopsis:...
. Several months later, she appeared in the first episode, entitled "One Blonde Too Many", of NBC one-season
The Tab Hunter ShowThe Tab Hunter Show is a 32-episode situation comedy starring former teen idol Tab Hunter. The series ran new episodes on NBC from September 18, 1960, to April 30, 1961; rebroadcasts then aired from May until September 18.-Synopsis:...
, a sitcom starring the former teen idol as a bachelor cartoonist.
In 1961, Moore appeared in several bit parts in movies and on television, including
Bourbon Street BeatBourbon Street Beat is a private detective series which ran on the ABC network from 1959 through 1960 and featured Andrew Duggan as Cal Calhoun, Richard Long as Rex Randolph, Van Williams as Kenny Madison, and Arlene Howell as Melody Lee Mercer .-Characters:The series was one of several Warner Bros...
,
77 Sunset Strip77 Sunset Strip is an hour-length American television private detective series created by Roy Huggins and starring Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Roger Smith, and Edd Byrnes....
,
Surfside Six,
Wanted: Dead or Alive,
Steve CanyonSteve Canyon was a long-running American adventure comic strip by writer-artist Milton Caniff. Launched shortly after Caniff retired from his previous strip, Terry and the Pirates, Steve Canyon ran from January 13, 1947 until June 4, 1988, shortly after Caniff's death...
,
Hawaiian EyeHawaiian Eye is an American television series that ran from October 1959 to September 1963 on the American Broadcasting Company television network.-Premise:...
, and
Lock UpLock up can refer to:* Lock-up provision, a corporate finance term* Lock up period, a term concerning initial public offerings of stock* Lock Up , an American rock band, featuring guitarist Tom Morello during his pre-Rage Against the Machine career....
in 1961 where a woman named Laura helped save her from prison.
In 1961,
Carl ReinerCarl Reiner is an American actor, film director, producer, writer and comedian. He has won nine Emmy Awards during his career.-Early life:...
cast her in
The Dick Van Dyke ShowThe Dick Van Dyke Show is an American television sitcom which initially aired on CBS from October 3, 1961 and ran until June 1, 1966. The show was created by Carl Reiner and starred Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore. A three-camera/studio audience format was used during production...
, an acclaimed weekly series based on Reiner's own life and career as a writer for
Sid CaesarIsaac Sidney "Sid" Caesar is an American comic actor and writer known as the leading man on the 1950s television series Your Show of Shows and Caesar's Hour, and to younger generations as Coach Calhoun in Grease and Grease 2.-Early life:Caesar was born in Yonkers, New York, the son of Jewish...
's television variety show, telling the cast from the outset that it would run no more than five years. The show was produced by Danny Thomas's company, and Thomas himself recommended her. He remembered Mary as "the girl with three names" whom he had turned down earlier. Moore's energetic comic performances as Van Dyke's character's wife, begun at age 24 (hence she was 11 years Van Dyke's junior), made both the actress and her signature tight capri pants extremely popular, and she became internationally famous. When she won an Emmy award for her portrayal of Laura Petrie, she said, through her tears, quite incorrectly, "I know this will never happen again!"
In 1970, after having appeared earlier in a pivotal one-hour musical special called "Dick Van Dyke and the Other Woman", Moore and husband Grant Tinker successfully pitched a sitcom centered on Moore to
CBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is an American television network, one of television's original "big three", which also include NBC and ABC. Like NBC, CBS started out as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System...
.
The Mary Tyler Moore ShowThe Mary Tyler Moore Show is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns that aired on CBS from September 19, 1970 to March 19, 1977...
was a half-hour newsroom sitcom featuring
Ed AsnerEdward Asner is an American film and television actor and former President of the Screen Actors Guild, primarily known for his role as Lou Grant on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its spin-off series, Lou Grant...
as her gruff boss
Lou GrantLou Grant is a fictional character played by Edward Asner in two television series produced by MTM Enterprises for CBS. The first was Mary Tyler Moore , in which the character was the news director at the fictional television station, WJM-TV...
, a character that would later be spun off into an hour-long dramatic series. The premise of the single working woman's life, alternating during the program between work and home, became a television staple that would often be used in the future. After six years of ratings in the top 20, the show slipped to number #39 during its seventh season. Producers argued for its cancellation due to its falling ratings, afraid that the show's legacy might be damaged if it were renewed for another season. To the surprise of the entire cast including Mary Tyler Moore herself, it was announced that they would soon be filming their final episode. After the announcement, the series finished strongly and the final show was the most watched show during the week it aired. The series had become a touchpoint of the Women's Movement because it was one of the first to show, in a serious way, an independent working woman.
After a brief respite, Moore threw herself into a completely different genre. She attempted two failed variety series in a row:
Mary, which featured
David LettermanDavid Michael Letterman is an American television host and comedian. He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman...
,
Michael KeatonMichael John Douglas , better known as Michael Keaton, is an American actor, well known for his early comedic roles in films such as Night Shift, Mr...
,
Swoosie KurtzSwoosie Kurtz is an American actress. She began her career in theater during the 1970s and shortly thereafter began a career in television, garnering ten nominations and winning one Emmy Award. Her most famous television project was her role on the 1990s NBC drama Sisters...
and
Dick Shawn-Biography:Shawn was born Richard Schulefand in Buffalo, New York. Shawn is best remembered for his roles as Sylvester Marcus, the bohemian but Oedipal beach-bum son of Ethel Merman's Mrs. Marcus in Stanley Kramer's It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World and as Lorenzo St. DuBois/Adolf Hitler in the...
in the supporting cast and lasted three episodes, which was re-tooled as
The Mary Tyler Moore HourThe Mary Tyler Moore Hour was a television series broadcast by CBS in the spring of 1979.Like her first series, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Moore's eponymous sitcom, The Mary Tyler Moore Show , had been highly-rated, critically-acclaimed, and the recipient of many Emmy Awards...
, a backstage show within a show, with Mary portraying a TV star putting on a variety show. To arouse curiosity and nostalgic feelings,
Dick Van DykeRichard Wayne “Dick” Van Dyke is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer with a career spanning six decades...
appeared as her guest, but the program was canceled within three months. About this time, she also made a one-off musical/variety special for CBS, titled
Mary's Incredible Dream, which featured
John RitterJonathan Southworth "John" Ritter was an American actor and comedian perhaps best known for playing Jack Tripper in the ABC sitcom Three's Company.-Early life:...
, among others. It did poorly in the ratings and, according to Moore, was never repeated and will likely never be aired again due to legal problems surrounding the show.
In the 1985-86 season, she returned to CBS in a series titled "Mary", which suffered from poor reviews, sagging ratings, and internal strife within the production crew. According to Moore, she asked CBS to pull the show, as she was unhappy with the direction of the program and the producers.
She also starred in the short-lived "warmedy",
Annie McGuire, in 1988.
In the mid-1990s, she had a cameo and a guest starring role as herself on two episodes of
EllenEllen is a U.S. television sitcom that ran on the ABC network from March 29, 1994 to July 22, 1998, producing 109 episodes.The theme song, "So-Called Friend" is by Scottish band Texas...
. She subsequently also guest starred on
Ellen DeGeneresEllen Lee DeGeneres is an American stand-up comedienne, television hostess and actress. She hosts the syndicated talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and is also a judge on American Idol, having joined the show in its ninth season.She has hosted both the Academy Awards and the Primetime Emmys. As a...
's next TV show,
The Ellen ShowThe Ellen Show was a television sitcom starring Ellen DeGeneres that aired during the 2001-2002 season on CBS. It was DeGeneres' second attempt at a sitcom, after These Friends of Mine/Ellen on ABC , but it was unable to garner strong ratings and was quickly cancelled.After coming out of the closet...
, in 2001.
In 2004, Moore reunited with her
Dick Van Dyke Show castmates for a reunion "episode" called
The Dick Van Dyke Show Revisited. In August 2005, Moore guest-starred as Christine St. George, a high-strung host of a fictional TV show on three episodes of
FoxFox is a common name for many species of carnivorous mammals belonging to the Canidae family. Foxes are small to medium-sized canids , characterized by possessing a long narrow snout, and a bushy tail ....
sitcom
That '70s ShowThat '70s Show is an American television sitcom that centered on the lives of a group of teenagers living in the fictional suburban town of Point Place, Wisconsin, from May 1976 to 12:00 AM, January 1, 1980. It debuted on the FOX television network on August 23, 1998 and ran for eight consecutive...
. Moore's scenes were shot on the same soundstage where
The Mary Tyler Moore Show was filmed in the 1970s.
Theatre
Moore appeared in several
BroadwayBroadway Theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, is the theatre associated with the 40 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located in the Theatre District, New York in Manhattan, New York City...
plays. She starred in
Whose Life Is It Anyway with
James NaughtonJames Naughton is an American Tony Award-winning theater, film and television actor.-Biography:Naughton was born in Middletown, Connecticut, the son of Rosemary and Joseph Naughton, both of whom were teachers. He is the brother of actor David Naughton. He and his wife, Pam, have two actor...
, which opened on
BroadwayBroadway Theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, is the theatre associated with the 40 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located in the Theatre District, New York in Manhattan, New York City...
at the Royale Theatre on February 24, 1980 and ran for 96 performances, and in
Sweet SueSweet Sue is a play by A. R. Gurney. It premiered at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, and later enjoyed a Broadway production at the Music Box Theatre during the 1986-87 season....
, which opened at the
Music Box TheatreThe Music Box Theater is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 239 West 45th Street in midtown-Manhattan.The once most aptly named theater on Broadway, the intimate Music Box was designed by architect C. Howard Crane and constructed by composer Irving Berlin and producer Sam H. Harris...
(transferred to the Royale Theatre) on Jan. 8, 1988 and ran for 164 performances. She was the star of a new musical version of
Breakfast at Tiffany's in December 1966, but the show, titled
Holly Golightly, was a notorious flop that closed out-of-town before reaching Broadway. An
urban legendAn urban legend, urban myth, or urban tale, more properly a "'contemporary legend'" is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories thought to be factual by those circulating them...
has it that when Mary, as Holly, announced that she miscarried her baby, the audience applauded.
She appeared in previews of the
Neil SimonMarvin Neil Simon is an American playwright and screenwriter. His numerous Broadway succcesses have led to his work being among the most regularly performed in the world...
play
Rose's Dilemma at the off-Broadway
Manhattan Theatre ClubManhattan Theatre Club is a theater company located in New York City. Under the dynamic leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry Grove, Manhattan Theatre Club has grown since its founding in 1970 from a prolific Off-Off Broadway showcase into one of the country’s...
in December 2003 but quit before the show opened.
During the 1980s, Moore and her production company produced five plays:
Noises OffNoises Off is a 1982 play by English playwright Michael Frayn. The idea for it was born in 1970, when Frayn was standing in the wings watching a performance of Chinamen, a farce that he had written for Lynn Redgrave...
,
The Octette Bridge ClubThe Octette Bridge Club is a play by P.J. Barry. Set in Providence, Rhode Island, it focuses on eight sisters of Irish descent who meet on alternate Friday evenings to play bridge and gossip...
,
Joe EggA Day in the Death of Joe Egg is a 1967 play by English playwright Peter Nichols, first staged at the Citizens Theatre in Glasgow, Scotland before transferring to London's West End theatres in 1968.-Plot summary:Characters* Bri* Grace* Joe* Freddie...
,
BenefactorsBenefactors is a 1984 play by Michael Frayn. It is set in the 1960s and concerns an idealistic architect David and his wife Jane and their relationship with the cynical Colin and his wife Sheila...
, and
Safe Sex.
Movies
Moore made her film debut in 1961's
X-15X-15 is a 1961 movie that tells a fictionalized account of the X-15 research rocket plane, the men who flew it and the women who loved them. It starred David McLean, Charles Bronson, Mary Tyler Moore, Kenneth Tobey, and James Gregory and it was narrated by James Stewart. It was directed by Richard...
. She subsequently appeared in a string of 1960s films (after signing an exclusive contract with
Universal PicturesThis is a partial listing of films produced and/or distributed by Universal Pictures, the main motion picture production/distribution arm of Universal Studios, a subsidiary of NBC Universal.-1920:* White Youth* The Flaming Disc...
), including 1967's
Thoroughly Modern MillieThoroughly Modern Millie is a 1967 American musical film directed by George Roy Hill. The screenplay by Richard Morris focuses on a naive young woman who finds herself in the midst of a series of madcap adventures when she sets her sights on marrying her wealthy boss.The soundtrack interpolates new...
with
Julie AndrewsDame Julie Elizabeth Andrews, DBE is a British film and stage actress, singer, and author. She is the recipient of Golden Globe, Emmy, Grammy, BAFTA, People's Choice Award, Theatre World Award, Screen Actors Guild and Academy Award honours...
and 1968's
What's So Bad About Feeling Good? and
Don't Just Stand There!. In 1969 she starred opposite
Elvis PresleyElvis Aaron Presley was an American singer and actor. A cultural icon, he is commonly known simply as Elvis and is also sometimes referred to as The King of Rock 'n' Roll or The King....
as a nun in
Change of HabitChange of Habit is a 1969 musical drama film starring Elvis Presley and Mary Tyler Moore. It was Presley's final acting role; his remaining two film appearances were concert documentaries...
. Moore's future television castmate
Ed AsnerEdward Asner is an American film and television actor and former President of the Screen Actors Guild, primarily known for his role as Lou Grant on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its spin-off series, Lou Grant...
also appeared in that film (as a cop). After that film's disappointing reviews and reception at the box office, Mary returned to television, and did not appear in another theatrical film for the next eleven years.
Moore was nominated for the
Best ActressPerformance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
for 1980's
Ordinary PeopleOrdinary People is a 1980 American film drama that marked the directorial debut of Robert Redford. The story concerns the disintegration of an upper middle class family in Lake Forest, Illinois, following the death of the oldest son...
. Other feature film credits include
Six Weeks,
Just Between Friends,
Flirting with DisasterFor the album by rock band Molly Hatchet, see Flirtin' with Disaster.Flirting with Disaster is a 1996 American comedy film written and directed by David O. Russell about a young father's search for his biological parents. The film stars Ben Stiller, Patricia Arquette, Téa Leoni, Mary Tyler Moore,...
,
Keys to Tulsa,
Labor Pains and
Cheats.
Moore has appeared in a number of
telefilmsA television movie is a feature film that is produced for and originally distributed by a...
, such as
Like Mother, Like Son: The Strange Story of Sante and Kenny Kimes,
Run a Crooked Mile,
HeartsoundsHeartsounds is an autobiographical book written by Martha Weinman Lear and first published in 1980 by Simon and Schuster....
,
The Gin Game (based on the Broadway play; it reunited her with Dick Van Dyke again),
Mary and RhodaMary and Rhoda is a 2000 made-for-television movie that reunited Mary Tyler Moore and Valerie Harper as Mary Richards and Rhoda Morgenstern respectively from the 1970–1977 sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Although the film is a spin-off of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, James L. Brooks and Allan Burns...
,
Lincoln (as
Mary Todd LincolnMary Ann Todd Lincoln was the wife of the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, and was First Lady of the United States from 1861 to 1865.-Life before the White House:...
),
Finnegan Begin Again,
The Best Year,
Miss Lettie and Me,
Stolen Babies and
Payback.
Author
Moore has written two memoirs. The first,
After All, released in 1995, in which she acknowledged that she is a recovering
alcoholicAlcoholism is a term with multiple and sometimes conflicting definitions. In common and historic usage, alcoholism is any condition that results in the continued consumption of alcoholic beverages, despite health problems and negative social consequences...
(ISBN 10: 0440223032). The next,
Growing Up Again: Life, Loves, and Oh Yeah, Diabetes, was released on April 1, 2009, and focuses on living with type 1 diabetes (
St. Martin's PressSt. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in the iconic Flatiron Building in New York City. Currently, St. Martin's Press is one of the United States' largest publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under eight imprints, which include St. Martin's Press , St...
, ISBN 10: 0312376316).
Personal life
In 1955, aged 18, Mary married Richard Carlton Meeker, whom she described as "the boy next door," and within six weeks was pregnant with her only child, Richard Jr. (born July 3, 1956) (who coincidentally, was known as "Richie", also the name of her TV son on
The Dick Van Dyke ShowThe Dick Van Dyke Show is an American television sitcom which initially aired on CBS from October 3, 1961 and ran until June 1, 1966. The show was created by Carl Reiner and starred Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore. A three-camera/studio audience format was used during production...
). Meeker and Moore divorced in 1961.
Moore married
Grant TinkerGrant Almerin Tinker is the former chairman and CEO of NBC from 1981 to 1986, co-founder of MTM Enterprises, and television producer. Tinker is the former husband of television actress Mary Tyler Moore...
, an
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
executive in 1962, and in 1970 they formed the television production company
MTM EnterprisesMTM Enterprises was an independent production company established in 1969 by Mary Tyler Moore and her then-husband Grant Tinker to produce The Mary Tyler Moore Show for CBS. The name for the production company was drawn from Moore's initials...
, which created and produced the company's first television series,
The Mary Tyler Moore Show. MTM Enterprises would later produce popular American sitcoms and drama television series such as
RhodaRhoda is an American television sitcom starring Valerie Harper. It was a spin-off from The Mary Tyler Moore Show and ran for five seasons between 1974-1978. Harper played the lead role of Rhoda Morgenstern, who was the spunky, weight conscious, flamboyantly-fashioned best friend of Mary Richards...
and
PhyllisPhyllis is an American television sitcom and the second spin-off of The Mary Tyler Moore Show created by Ed Weinberger and Stan Daniels. The show starred Cloris Leachman as Phyllis Lindstrom, who was previously Mary Richards' landlady on The Mary Tyler Moore Show...
(both spin-offs from
The Mary Tyler Moore Show),
The Bob Newhart ShowThe Bob Newhart Show is the name of two different television series, both starring comedian Bob Newhart. The better-known is a situation comedy produced by MTM Enterprises, which aired on CBS from September 16, to April 1,...
,
WKRP in CincinnatiWKRP in Cincinnati is an American situation comedy that featured the misadventures of the staff of a struggling fictional radio station in Cincinnati, Ohio. The show was created by Hugh Wilson and was based upon his experiences working in advertising as a client of a classic album-oriented rock...
,
Hill Street BluesHill Street Blues is a serial police drama that was first aired on NBC in 1981 and ran for 146 episodes on primetime into 1987. Reruns are currently being aired on AmericanLife TV Network on weekday nights in the United States, and on weekday afternoons on digital network More 4 in the United Kingdom...
, and
NewhartNewhart is a television situation comedy starring comedian Bob Newhart and actress Mary Frann as an author and his wife who owned and operated a historic inn located in a small, rural Vermont town that was populated by eccentric characters. The show aired on the CBS network from October 25, 1982 to...
. It was later sold to
Television SouthTelevision South was the broadcasting name associated with the ITV franchise holder in the south and south east of England between 1 January 1982 and 23:59 on 31 December 1992...
, an
ITVITV is a public service network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC. ITV is the oldest commercial television network in the UK...
Franchise holder during the 1980s. Moore and Tinker divorced in 1981.
Moore's son Richie died of an accidental self-inflicted gunshot in 1980. The gun was later taken off the market due to its "hair trigger". Just prior to his death, Moore had secured a job for him in the
CBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is an American television network, one of television's original "big three", which also include NBC and ABC. Like NBC, CBS started out as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System...
mailroom.
She married Dr. Robert Levine on November 23, 1983 at the Pierre Hotel in New York City. They met when her mother was treated by him in New York on a weekend housecall after returning from a visit to the Pope at the Vatican.
Charity work
In addition to her acting work, Moore is the International Chairman of the
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation InternationalThe Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International is the leading charitable funder and advocate of type 1 diabetes research worldwide. The mission of JDRF is to find a cure for diabetes and its complications through the support of research. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that...
. In this role, she has used her fame to help raise funds and raise awareness of
diabetes mellitus type 1Diabetes mellitus —often referred to simply as diabetes—is a condition in which the body either does not produce enough, or does not properly respond to, insulin, a hormone produced in the pancreas. Insulin enables cells to absorb glucose in order to turn it into energy...
, which she has, almost losing her vision and at least one limb to the disease.
In 2007, in honor of Moore's dedication to the Foundation, JDRF created the "Forever Moore" research initiative which will support JDRF's Academic Research and Development and JDRF's Clinical Development Program. The program works on translating basic research advances into new treatments and technologies for those living with type 1 diabetes.
She also adopted a
Golden RetrieverThe Golden Retriever is a breed of dog, historically developed as a gundog to retrieve shot waterfowl and upland game during hunting. As such they were bred to have a soft mouth to retrieve game undamaged and an instinctive love of water...
puppy from Yankee Golden Retriever Rescue in Hudson, Massachusetts. She also is an animal rights activist and promoted her cause on the Ellen DeGeneris sitcom
Ellen.
She has worked for animal rights for many years. On the subject of fur, she has said, "Behind every beautiful fur, there is a story. It is a bloody, barbaric story."
She is also a co-founder of
Broadway BarksBroadway Barks is an annual animal charity event held in New York City to promote the adoption of shelter animals. The event was founded in 1999 by Bernadette Peters with her friend Mary Tyler Moore and others, who wanted to do "something for the animals" after a successful fund–raising campaign...
, an annual animal adopt-a-thon held in New York City. Moore and friend
Bernadette PetersBernadette Peters is an American actress and singer from New York City. Over the course of a career that has already spanned five decades, she has starred in musical theatre, films and television, as well as performing in solo concerts and recordings...
work to make New York City a no-kill city and to promote adopting animals from shelters.
In honor of her father, George Tyler Moore, who was a life-long
Civil WarA civil war is a war between organized groups within a single nation state, or, less commonly, between two nations created from a formerly-united nation state. The aim of one side may be to take control of the nation or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies...
enthusiast, in 1995 Moore donated funds to acquire an historic structure in
Shepherdstown, West VirginiaShepherdstown is a town in Jefferson County, West Virginia, USA. Shepherdstown claims to be the oldest town in the state. In 1734, Thomas Shepherd was granted , on the south side of the Potomac river. From that tract, he selected and laid out a town. He named his town Mecklenburg and petitioned...
, for Shepherd College (now
Shepherd UniversityShepherd University, formerly Shepherd College, is an American, state-funded, university in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. The University currently serves more than 4,200 students - Accreditation :...
) to be used as a center for Civil War studies. The center, named the
George Tyler Moore Center for the Study of the Civil WarThe George Tyler Moore Center for the Study of the Civil War in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, is home to Shepherd University's Civil War and 19th century America concentrated track of studies. The program requires students to complete a program of specialized courses in addition to those required...
is housed in the historic Conrad Shindler house (ca. 1795), which is named in honor of her great, great, great-grandfather, who owned the structure from 1815-52. Moore also contributed to the renovation of the house used as headquarters during 1861-1862 by Major General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson. Use of the house had been offered to Jackson by its owner, Lieutenant Colonel Lewis Tilghman Moore, commander of the 4th Virginia Infantry and a great-grandfather of Mary Tyler Moore.
Moore supports embryonic stem cell research. When President
George W. BushGeorge Walker Bush was the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 and the 46th Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000....
announced that he would veto the Senate's bill supporting the research, she said, "This is an intelligent human being with a heart, and I don't see how much longer he can deny those aspects of himself."
Honors
In early May 2002, Moore was present as cable TV network
TV LandTV Land is an American cable television network launched April 29, 1996. It is owned by MTV Networks, a division of Viacom, which also owns Paramount Pictures, and networks such as MTV and Nickelodeon....
dedicated a statue in downtown Minneapolis to the television character she made famous on
Mary Tyler Moore. The statue is in front of the
Dayton'sMinneapolis-based Dayton's was among the nation's leading department stores for nearly a century. Founded in 1902 by George Draper Dayton, Dayton stores quickly became synonymous with quality merchandise, superior service, fashion leadership, and community involvement. In 1969, the Detroit-based...
(now
Macy'sMacy's is a chain of mid-to-high range American department stores. Its selection of merchandise can vary significantly from location to location, resulting in the exclusive availability of certain brands in only higher-end stores...
) department store, near the corner of 7th Street and
Nicollet MallNicollet Mall is a portion of Nicollet Avenue running through downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Working as a pedestrian and transit mall, it is also an upscale shopping and dining district...
. It depicts the well-known moment in the show's opening credits where Mary throws her tam o'shanter cap in the air, in a freeze-frame at the end of the montage.
MTM Enterprises
Moore also founded
MTM EnterprisesMTM Enterprises was an independent production company established in 1969 by Mary Tyler Moore and her then-husband Grant Tinker to produce The Mary Tyler Moore Show for CBS. The name for the production company was drawn from Moore's initials...
, Inc. in 1969. This company produced
The Mary Tyler Moore Show and several other television shows and films. It also included a
record labelIn the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
,
MTM RecordsMTM Records was an American independent record label specializing in country music. It was founded in 1984 as a subsidiary of the production company of the same name, a company owned by actress Mary Tyler Moore. After MTM Enterprises was sold in late 1988, the label was disestablished...
.
Television
- Richard Diamond, Private Detective
Richard Diamond, Private Detective is a detective drama which was on radio from 1949 to 1953 and on television from 1957 to 1960.-Radio:Dick Powell starred in the Richard Diamond, Private Detective radio series as a rather light-hearted detective who often ended the episodes singing to his...
- The Tab Hunter Show
The Tab Hunter Show is a 32-episode situation comedy starring former teen idol Tab Hunter. The series ran new episodes on NBC from September 18, 1960, to April 30, 1961; rebroadcasts then aired from May until September 18.-Synopsis:...
(1960), guest star in first episode
- The Dick Van Dyke Show
The Dick Van Dyke Show is an American television sitcom which initially aired on CBS from October 3, 1961 and ran until June 1, 1966. The show was created by Carl Reiner and starred Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore. A three-camera/studio audience format was used during production...
(1961-1966)
- The Mary Tyler Moore Show
The Mary Tyler Moore Show is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns that aired on CBS from September 19, 1970 to March 19, 1977...
(1970-1977)
- Rhoda
Rhoda is an American television sitcom starring Valerie Harper. It was a spin-off from The Mary Tyler Moore Show and ran for five seasons between 1974-1978. Harper played the lead role of Rhoda Morgenstern, who was the spunky, weight conscious, flamboyantly-fashioned best friend of Mary Richards...
(1974-1978)
- Phyllis
Phyllis is an American television sitcom and the second spin-off of The Mary Tyler Moore Show created by Ed Weinberger and Stan Daniels. The show starred Cloris Leachman as Phyllis Lindstrom, who was previously Mary Richards' landlady on The Mary Tyler Moore Show...
(1976-1977)
- How To Survive the '70s (special) (1978)
- Mary
Mary was a variety-type program briefly broadcast by CBS as part of its 1978-79 fall lineup.Mary was the attempt by Mary Tyler Moore to return to network television after the triumph of her sitcom from 1970 to 1977...
(1978)
- First, You Cry (1978)
- The Mary Tyler Moore Hour
The Mary Tyler Moore Hour was a television series broadcast by CBS in the spring of 1979.Like her first series, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Moore's eponymous sitcom, The Mary Tyler Moore Show , had been highly-rated, critically-acclaimed, and the recipient of many Emmy Awards...
(1979)
- Heartsounds
Heartsounds is an autobiographical book written by Martha Weinman Lear and first published in 1980 by Simon and Schuster....
(1984)
- Finnegan Begin Again (1985)
- Mary (1985-1986)
- Lincoln (1988)
- Annie McGuire
Annie McGuire is a Scottish reporter on BBC Scotland programmes including football phone-in show 'Your Call' and Sportsound. Occasionally links Radio Scotland's New Music Zone and T in the Park coverage and stood in for presenter Vic Galloway...
(1988)
- The Last Best Year
The Last Best Year is a drama television movie, concerning a lonely woman who discovers that she has a terminal illness. This made-for-television movie co-starred Mary Tyler Moore and Bernadette Peters, two actresses known for playing comedic roles. It aired on ABC.-Plot summary:Jane visits a...
(1990)
- Thanksgiving Day (TV series) (1990)
- Stolen Babies (1993)
- New York News
New York News was a newspaper drama which was broadcast in the United States by CBS as part of its 1995 fall lineup.New York News was the story of the fictional New York Reporter, a struggling tabloid in the nation's largest, most competitive newspaper market, New York City...
(1995)
- Stolen Memories: Secrets from the Rose Garden
Stolen Memories: Secrets from the Rose Garden is a 1996 film starringMary Tyler Moore. A young boy goes to visit his aunt for the summer and meets Jessica, a quiet woman with a troubled past, who teaches him about life and sexuality....
(1996)
- Ellen
Ellen may refer to:* One of the shows starring Ellen DeGeneres** Ellen , a sitcom about a bookstore owner** The Ellen Show , a sitcom about a woman returning to her hometown...
(1996)
- Payback (1997)
- Good as Gold
Good as Gold is a 1979 novel by Joseph Heller, author of Catch-22.-Plot introduction:Bruce Gold, a Jewish, middle-aged university English professor and author of many unread, seminal articles in small journals, residing in Manhattan, is offered the chance for success, fame and fortune in Washington...
(2000)
- Mary and Rhoda
Mary and Rhoda is a 2000 made-for-television movie that reunited Mary Tyler Moore and Valerie Harper as Mary Richards and Rhoda Morgenstern respectively from the 1970–1977 sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Although the film is a spin-off of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, James L. Brooks and Allan Burns...
(2000)
- Like Mother, Like Son: The Strange Story of Sante and Kenny Kimes (2001)
- The Ellen Show
The Ellen Show was a television sitcom starring Ellen DeGeneres that aired during the 2001-2002 season on CBS. It was DeGeneres' second attempt at a sitcom, after These Friends of Mine/Ellen on ABC , but it was unable to garner strong ratings and was quickly cancelled.After coming out of the closet...
(2001)
- Miss Lettie and Me (2002)
- The Gin Game
The Gin Game is a two-person, two-act play by D.L. Coburn that premiered at American Theater Arts in Hollywood in September 1976, directed by Kip Niven. It was Coburn's first play, and the theater's first production.-Plot synopsis:...
(2003)
- Blessings (TV movie) (2003)
- The Dick Van Dyke Show Revisited (2004)
- Snow Wonder (2005)
- That '70s Show
That '70s Show is an American television sitcom that centered on the lives of a group of teenagers living in the fictional suburban town of Point Place, Wisconsin, from May 1976 to 12:00 AM, January 1, 1980. It debuted on the FOX television network on August 23, 1998 and ran for eight consecutive...
(2006)
- Lipstick Jungle
Lipstick Jungle was an American TV comedy-drama created by DeAnn Heline and Eileen Heisler for NBC Universal Television Studio. The hour-long series was based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Candace Bushnell, who also served as executive producer alongside showrunner/Head Writer...
(2008)
- Oprah
The Oprah Winfrey Show is a United States syndicated talk show, hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey, and is the highest-rated talk show in American television history...
(May 19, 2008)
- "Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American news Morning show and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network, debuting on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour, available exclusively on ABC News Now, was introduced in 2007...
" (March 31, 2009)
Film
| Year |
Film |
Role |
Notes |
| 1958 |
Once Upon a Horse... |
Dance Hall Girl |
(uncredited) |
| 1961 |
X-15X-15 is a 1961 movie that tells a fictionalized account of the X-15 research rocket plane, the men who flew it and the women who loved them. It starred David McLean, Charles Bronson, Mary Tyler Moore, Kenneth Tobey, and James Gregory and it was narrated by James Stewart. It was directed by Richard...
|
Pamela Stewart |
|
| 1967 |
Thoroughly Modern Millie Thoroughly Modern Millie is a 1967 American musical film directed by George Roy Hill. The screenplay by Richard Morris focuses on a naive young woman who finds herself in the midst of a series of madcap adventures when she sets her sights on marrying her wealthy boss.The soundtrack interpolates new...
|
Miss Dorothy Brown |
|
| 1968 |
What's So Bad About Feeling Good? What's So Bad About Feeling Good? is the title of a 1968 comedy film, starring George Peppard, Mary Tyler Moore, Jeanne Arnold, Dom DeLuise and Gillian Spencer. It was directed by George Seaton.- Plot :...
|
Liz |
|
| Don't Just Stand There! |
Martine Randall |
|
| 1969 |
Run a Crooked Mile Run a Crooked Mile is a made-for-TV thriller in which Louis Jourdan stars as Richard Stuart, an ordinary schoolteacher who, whilst on holiday, is a witness to a murder in a private secluded mansion....
|
Elizabeth Sutton |
(TV) |
Change of HabitChange of Habit is a 1969 musical drama film starring Elvis Presley and Mary Tyler Moore. It was Presley's final acting role; his remaining two film appearances were concert documentaries...
|
Sister Michelle Gallagher |
|
| 1980 |
Ordinary People Ordinary People is a 1980 American film drama that marked the directorial debut of Robert Redford. The story concerns the disintegration of an upper middle class family in Lake Forest, Illinois, following the death of the oldest son...
|
Beth Jarrett |
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
Nominated — Academy Award for Best ActressPerformance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading RoleBest Actress in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film.- Winners and nominees :...
|
| 1982 |
Six Weeks Six Weeks is a 1982 film drama, directed by Tony Bill and based on a novel by Fred Mustard Stewart. It stars Dudley Moore and Mary Tyler Moore....
|
Charlotte Dreyfus |
|
| 1986 |
Just Between Friends Just Between Friends is a 1986 drama film about two women whose friendship is tested by tragedy. The film was written, produced and directed by Allan Burns, and it stars Mary Tyler Moore, Ted Danson, and Christine Lahti.-Plot Summary:...
|
Holly Davis |
|
| 1996 |
Flirting with Disaster For the album by rock band Molly Hatchet, see Flirtin' with Disaster.Flirting with Disaster is a 1996 American comedy film written and directed by David O. Russell about a young father's search for his biological parents. The film stars Ben Stiller, Patricia Arquette, Téa Leoni, Mary Tyler Moore,...
|
Pearl Coplin |
Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actress The Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actress is an award given by the Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film to the actress or actresses whose winning performance is voted by participating members...
|
| The Blue Arrow |
Granny Rose |
(voice) |
| 1997 |
Keys to TulsaKeys to Tulsa is a 1997 film directed by Leslie Greif, and starring Eric Stoltz and James Spader. It is based on the novel of the same name by Bryan Fair Berkey.-Plot:The story revolves around Richter Boudreau...
|
Cynthia Boudreau |
|
| 1998 |
Reno Finds Her Mom |
Herself |
|
| 2000 |
Labor PainsLabor Pains is a TV movie, starring Lindsay Lohan, Luke Kirby, Cheryl Hines, Chris Parnell, and Aaron Yoo. The film was originally going to be released in theatres, but instead received a television release on ABC Family on July 19, 2009. The film was then released to DVD and Blu-Ray on August 4...
|
Esther Raymond |
|
| 2002 |
Cheats Cheats is a 2002 comedy about four friends that have been cheating their way through high school, and have to face new challenges to avoid getting caught before going to college...
|
Mrs. Stark |
|
| 2009 |
Against The Current |
Mom |
|
External links