Mary Tyler Moore
Actress
About This Interview
Mary Tyler Moore always knew she'd have a career on stage, "I knew at a very early age what I wanted to do. Some people refer to it as indulging in my instincts and artistic bent. I call it just showing off, which was what I did from about three years of age on." In her Archive interview, Mary Tyler Moore discusses growing up in Brooklyn before moving with her family to Los Angeles. She chronicles her first TV job, as "Happy Hotpoint" on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet , which she began right after graduating high school, and discusses her time as a chorus dancer before choosing to pursue acting. After she revealed that she had played the unseen "Sam" on Richard Diamond, Private Detective, her career began to take off. She turned to comedy when Carl Reiner cast her as "Laura Petrie" in The Dick Van Dyke Show, and Moore discusses the show, as well as meeting her future husband Grant Tinker on the set. She then talks about her next series, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, the first of many series produced by MTM Productions. She speaks of her later series and her acclaimed work in the film Ordinary People, and on stage in Whose Life is it Anyway? Mary Tyler Moore was interviewed in New York City on October 23, 1997. Diane Werts conducted the two-hour interview.
Related To This Video
Featured Content
Video: The Dick Van Dyke Show episode "My Blonde-Haired Brunette"
Resources
Links
- Museum of Broadcast Communications' Encyclopedia of Television article: Mary Tyler Moore
- Autobiography: Growing Up Again: Life, Loves, and Oh Yeah, Diabetes by Mary Tyler Moore
- Autobiography: After All by Mary Tyler Moore
- DVD: The Dick Van Dyke Show
- DVD: The Mary Tyler Moore Show
- IMDB entry on Mary Tyler Moore
- Wikipedia entry on Mary Tyler Moore
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Highlights
Mary Tyler Moore on her childhood talent (00m 35s)
Mary Tyler Moore on being "Happy Hotpoint" on commercials for the sponsor of Ozzie and Harriet (01m 59s)
Mary Tyler Moore on The Dick Van Dyke Show episode "My Blonde-Haired Brunette" (airdate: October 10, 1961) (01m 47s)
Mary Tyler Moore on her "oh, Rob!" catchphrase on The Dick Van Dyke Show (00m 39s)
Mary Tyler Moore on Lucille Ball giving her the greatest gift "she ever received in the business" w (01m 15s)
Mary Tyler Moore on the character of Mary Richards, exemplified on "The Good-Time News" episode (ai (01m 32s)
Mary Tyler Moore on The Mary Tyler Moore Show episode "Chuckles Bites the Dust" (airdate: O (02m 18s)
Mary Tyler Moore on tossing hat in the air for the opening of The Mary Tyler Moore Show (00m 45s)
Mary Tyler Moore on The Mary Tyler Moore show finale, "The Last Show" (airdate: March 19, 1 (02m 53s)
Mary Tyler Moore on her work on the film Ordinary People (02m 14s)
Mary Tyler Moore on her Tony Award-winning Broadway role in Whose Life is it Anyway? (01m 52s)
Mary Tyler Moore on how she'd like to be remembered (01m 11s)
Chapters
- Chapter 1
- On growing up in Brooklyn, NY
- On moving to Los Angeles with her family
- On her first jobs, including playing "Happy Hotpoint" on Ozzie and Harriet ads, chorus dancing, and small acting roles
- On her first regular role on Richard Diamond, Private Detective
- On auditioning for The Dick Van Dyke Show and the relationship between Laura and Rob Petrie
- On working with Carl Reiner and developing her character on The Dick Van Dyke Sh ow
- Chapter 2
- On some classic episodes of The Dick Van Dyke Show and her "oh, Rob!" catchphrase
- On working on The Dick Van Dyke Show; meeting and falling in love with Grant Tinker
- On winning her first Emmy, the success of The Dick Van Dyke Show, and her sadness at the ending of the series
- On her film and stage work after The Dick Van Dyke Show, including the ill-fated stage production of Breakfast at Tiffany's
- On being diagnosed with diabetes, starring in the special Dick Van Dyke and the Other Woman, and the formation of MTM
- Chapter 3
- On the development of The Mary Tyler Moore show and the casting of the ensemble
- On the development and reaction to the pilot of The Mary Tyler Moore Show
- On memorable episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, the origin of the show's opening, and going off the air
- Chapter 4
- On The Mary Tyler Moore show finale and the growth of MTM as a studio
- On her later variety special and series and her film work in Ordinary People and Flirting with Disaster
- On writing her autobiography, performing on Broadway in Whose Life is it Anyway?, and the TV movie Secrets of the Rose Garden
- On summing up her career, appearing on the "Lobster Diary" episode of Ellen, her animal activism, and her opinion on the future of TV
- Chapter 5
- On where Laura Petrie and Mary Richards would be in 1997; how she would like to be remembered and her induction into the TV Academy Hall of Fame


In my book, MTM's 'Laura Petrie' character is perhaps the most beautiful TV wife/mother of all time, and she was a perfect compliment to the character of Rob Petrie. Although I wasn't born until 1965, I have an appreciation for just how cutting edge the DVD Show was in its character development, given TV's limitation standards at the time. This was an honest look at how home life could be if the couple made an honest effort to ensure their compatibility. Oh how we need those days back again!
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