Mary Tyler Moore

Mary Tyler Moore (born on December 29, 1936) is an American actress and comedian, best known for The Mary Tyler Moore Show, in which she starred as Mary Richards, a 30ish single woman who worked as a news producer at WJM-TV in Minneapolis.

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December 29 - 1936 - American - Actress - Comedian - The Mary Tyler Moore Show - Minneapolis

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The oldest of three siblings, Moore was born in Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York to George Tyler Moore and Marjorie Hackett. She moved to California when she was 8 years old. She attended Saint Rose of Lima Roman Catholic school in Brooklyn, and at Notre Dame convent school in Hollywood. At the age of 17, she started off with a role as "Happy Hotpoint" on television commercials broadcast during Ozzie and Harriet. During these commercials she would dance around on the General Electric appliances. After that, she appeared in several bit parts in movies and on TV shows such as Bourbon Street Beat, 77 Sunset Strip, Steve Canyon, and Hawaiian Eye.

Related Topics:
Flatbush - Brooklyn, New York - California - Saint Rose of Lima - Roman Catholic - Brooklyn - Notre Dame - Hollywood - Television commercial - Ozzie and Harriet - General Electric - Bourbon Street Beat - 77 Sunset Strip - Steve Canyon - Hawaiian Eye

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In 1955 she married Dirk Meeker, whom she described as "the boy next door", and was pregnant with her only son Richie within six weeks. Meeker and Moore divorced in 1961, and Richie shot and killed himself in 1980 in what was ruled an accident. Several years later, her sister committed suicide. Her last remaining sibling died of cancer (she recently claimed that she had helped him end his life with an overdose of painkillers), and her mother, who suffered from alcoholism is also deceased, leaving only her father, George Moore, who lives in California.

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1955 - 1961 - 1980 - California

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Moore's first regular television role was on the show Richard Diamond, Private Detective; however, in that show, only her legs were ever shown. Her first important television role in which gained wide recognition was as Laura Petrie in The Dick Van Dyke Show.

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Television - Richard Diamond, Private Detective - Leg - The Dick Van Dyke Show

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Moore married Grant Tinker in 1962, and in 1970 they formed the television production company MTM Enterprises, which created and produced the company's first television series, The Mary Tyler Moore Show. MTM Enterprises would later produced popular American sitcoms and drama television series such as Rhoda, The Bob Newhart Show, WKRP in Cincinnati, and Hill Street Blues. Moore and Tinker divorced in 1981, and she married Dr. Robert Levine in 1983.

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Grant Tinker - 1962 - 1970 - MTM Enterprises - The Mary Tyler Moore Show - Rhoda - The Bob Newhart Show - WKRP in Cincinnati - Hill Street Blues - 1981 - 1983

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Moore has admitted having a drinking problem from the time she starred in the Dick Van Dyke show until after marrying Levine. Her alcoholism peaked in the 1980s, and Moore eventually entered the Betty Ford Clinic for treatment in 1984. She has been sober since then. Her onetime co-star, Dick Van Dyke, also battled alcoholism for many years.

Related Topics:
Alcoholism - Betty Ford Clinic - 1984 - Dick Van Dyke

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Moore has starred in several films, including Ordinary People in which she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. More recently she portrayed Sante Kimes in the made-for-TV movie ' (2001) and reunited with her Dick Van Dyke Show castmates for a reunion "episode".

Related Topics:
Film - Ordinary People - Academy Award - Best Actress - Sante Kimes - 2001

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In August 2005, it was announced that Moore would be guest-starring as a local newswoman on three episodes of the Fox sitcom That '70s Show. Moore's scenes will be shot on the same soundstage where The Mary Tyler Moore Show was filmed in the 1970s. The episodes will air in early 2006.

Related Topics:
August - 2005 - Fox - Sitcom - That '70s Show - Soundstage - 1970s - 2006

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In addition to her acting work, Moore is the International Chairman of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International. In this role, she has used her fame to help raise funds and raise awareness of diabetes mellitus type 1, from which she suffers severely, almost losing her vision and at least one limb to the disease, but fortunately she was saved from blindness and amputation, with the help of her significantly younger doctor husband who takes good care of her and helps her control her diabetes.

Related Topics:
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International - Diabetes mellitus type 1

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Moore is a vegetarian and 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."

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In early May 2001, Moore was present as cable TV network TV Land 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's (now Marshall Field's) department store, near the corner of 7th Street and Nicollet Mall. It depicts the well-known moment in the show's opening credits where Mary joyfully throws her Tam o'shanter cap up in the air, in a freeze-frame at the end of the montage.

Related Topics:
2001 - TV Land - Minneapolis - Mary Tyler Moore - Dayton's - Marshall Field's - Nicollet Mall - Tam o'shanter

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Fans have noted that the statue takes a couple of liberties with that opening scene, for both practical and artistic reasons. One is that where Mary actually tossed the cap was in the crosswalk in the middle of the street, clearly not the best location for a statue. The other is that the actual release point of the cap was around her waist, whereas the statue has her hand high overhead, barely touching the cap, as if she were catching it instead of tossing it.

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