The entertainment community is still mourning the loss and celebrating the career of Mary Tyler Moore, who passed away Wednesday at the age of 80. Dick Van Dyke, who gave Mary her big break playing his wife on The Dick Van Dyke Show, spoke about what he meant to her.
Dick, a spry 90-years-old (which I can’t believe), recalled his first encounter with Mary, then 23, in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. As he discussed first meeting Mary, whose voice reminded him of Katherine Hepburn, he mused, “My first question was, ‘Can this girl do comedy?’ After that I said, ‘She’s a little young for me.’” Once she settled in the role of Laura Petrie, Dick knew the right actress was cast, proudly saying, “I got to be on hand and watch her grow into the talent she became. She was just the best.” According to Dick, Mary was also a natural comedienne, recalling:
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.
Of course, Dick is far from the only one who is paying tribute to the legendary actress. Robert Redford, who directed Mary in her Oscar-nominated role in the drama Ordinary People released a statement saying: “Mary’s energy, spirit and talent created a new bright spot in the television landscape and she will be very much missed. The courage she displayed in taking on a role darker than anything she had ever done, was brave and enormously powerful.”
Cloris Leachman, who played Mary’s pal Phyllis on The Mary Tyler Moore Show – and later got a spin-off of her own – also released a statement and a touching tweet. Get out the tissues.
“My heart goes out to her husband, Robert — he was never more than a touch away from her. The picture that we all have of her, that’s how she was — sweet, kind, so tender, so delicate. She was America’s sweetheart. Valerie [Harper] and I always had to rehearse and rehearse, to work things through but Mary was always ready to go, thoroughly prepared. The last time I saw her was our ‘Hot In Cleveland’ reunion. I had a feeling I wouldn’t see her again. If I could see her one last time I’d hold her in my arms and say, ‘We love you.’”
The picture that we all have of Mary, that’s how she was—sweet, kind, so tender, so delicate. She was America’s sweetheart. We loved you.
— Cloris Leachman (@Cloris_Leachman) January 26, 2017
No, you’re crying. Ben Stiller, who co-starred with Mary in the 1996 comedy Flirting with Disaster, tweeted a nice message:
I loved Mary Tyler Moore on so many levels it was confusing. Such a huge part of our culture and consciousness. Sending love to her family.
— Ben Stiller (@RedHourBen) January 25, 2017
Oprah Winfrey met Mary on a surprise visit she made 1997 to The Oprah Winfrey Show, which left Oprah in tears. Oprah tweeted:
Even now looking at this picture I want to cry. I still can't believe Mary Tyler Moore touched my face. Will love her 4 ever. pic.twitter.com/6u4ELq27vN
— Oprah Winfrey (@Oprah) January 25, 2017
She added later in a statement, “Mary Tyler Moore majorly influenced my life and career. I respected and admired her business acumen, her passion, and compassion for all life, and most importantly, the values espoused through her storytelling. I thank her for being a light that shined so brightly, it let me see myself in her.”
Candice Bergen, who, 11 years after The Mary Tyler Moore Show ended its run, played an independent woman working in the male-dominated television news industry on Murphy Brown, said Mary was “in her own stratosphere” and paved the way for representations of strong female characters on television. In an interview on Thursday’s TODAY Show, Candice said, “Mary Tyler Moore really opened the door for women not defined by a relationship, for women trying to have a career. And it also opened the door for quality television, cause the writing was so exceptional and had so much depth and was character-driven. Mary was an icon unlike any other.”
Another woman greatly influenced by Mary and the role she played as a single, independent and successful woman on television was First Lady Michelle Obama. In an August, 2016 interview with Variety, Michelle noted:
She was one of the few single working women depicted on television at the time. She wasn’t married. She wasn’t looking to get married. At no point did the series end in a happy ending with her finding a husband — which seemed to be the course you had to take as a woman. But she sort of bucked that. She worked in a newsroom, she had a tough boss, and she stood up to him. She had close friends, never bemoaning the fact that she was a single. She was very proud and comfortable in that role.
I was probably 10 or 11 when I saw that, and sort of started thinking, ‘You know what? Marriage is an option. Having a family is an option. And going to school and getting your education and building your career is another really viable option that can lead to happiness and fulfillment.
The social media tributes go on and on, from former colleagues, contemporaries and even from today’s batch of female celebrities for whom Mary broke down the door. Girls star/creator Lena Dunham posted a throwback photo of Mary quoting a line from the show’s theme song, “It’s time you let someone else do some giving” and Rachel Bloom, star of my favorite new show, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, tweeted, “I could not do what I do without her.”
I could not do what I do without her. https://t.co/VkP2Cg9jNV
— Rachel Bloom (@Racheldoesstuff) January 25, 2017
If you want to pay tribute to Mary with some binge watching over the weekend, the first three seasons of The Mary Tyler Moore Show are streaming on Hulu, and Vulture put together a list of some of the series’ best episodes. The entire series of The Dick Van Dyke Show is also available on Hulu (which also has some “must-see” episodes.) I know what I’ll be doing this weekend. Thanks for everything, Mary.
Photo credit: WENN.com, Fame Flynet, Getty Images
It has to be so hard to be in your 70s-80s and see all your friends pass away, one by one.. and you have to say goodbye to them wondering when it’ll be your moment.
I can assure you that it is. I’m 74 and it seems like every day someone else disappears from my life.
I imagine it to be the worst feeling ever.
Hugs to you.
My father told me it’s a horrible feeling as you age and keep losing people. Your world seems to become smaller.
72 here. Everyone from the previous generation is gone except for my 101 yo aunt-in-law. My husband gone. Some of my cousins gone, classmates gone, co-workers gone, many students I knew during my 40 year career gone.
Keeping up friendships makes it easier. And having Celebitchies to talk to about it.
That was my late gran. She was in her 90’s when she died, and had outlived all of her siblings and most of her friends. She was upset that no one would be left to attend her funeral.
RIP to MTM, she was such an inspiration to many of us!
Grew up watching the old reruns. I loved that she never focused on having a man, and was the equal of Lou Grant, going toe to toe with him and coming out on top so often. It was such a defining character to me. Loved Rhoda too.
Really bummed about this.
I love that Dick Van Dyke thought Mary was “a little young for me”, at 10 years his junior. Can you imagine ANY actor saying that today, paired as they are with love interests who are 20, 30, or more years younger than them?
Yes, that’s a pertinent comment! Any other actor within the same age difference would now think “yup, right down my age group of preference… and Hollywood agrees with me”.
Of course, Dick is now married to someone 46 years younger than him. LOL
Yes. But he’s 90. He’s hardly cradle snatching, and it’s her choice. Love DVD, MTM was terrific, and brilliant in Ordinary People, a film unjustly pilloried because a boxing movie should allegedly have won. RIP Mary.
It’s long been that way. Audrey Hepburn, for one, was consistently paired with co-stars 20-30 years older – Bogart, Astaire, Cooper, Holden, among others. It wasn’t so bad in films of the 30s and 40s. It amped up in the 50s and just kept going.
Interesting Cloris used the word delicate for Mary. She did look a little frail at times but she was a strong survivor overcoming addiction, illness and the loss of her son. Her invincible power was in her sweetness and big beautiful smile. She wore these like a super girl cape and costume. She was one of a kind and an important icon for women.
She was very strong but she was very skinny and I think maintained such a strict diet to keep control of her diabetes (which we didn’t know about at the time her show was so big , how different is that from the present). So I could see how she would look frail to Cloris. I think that’s what she meant.
I will never forget how moved I was by “Ordinary People.” It was heartbreaking to see her play that character.
Ordinary People is my favourite movie and her performance never ceases to rip my heart out despite the fact that I’ve seen it dozens of times. Just gut-wrenching. The scene where Conrad finds her sitting on Buck’s bed? GAH! She was so remarkable. When I was growing up my Mum had a great love and appreciation for her and my sisters and I ended up watching the MTM show. Even as a child I know there was something so kick-ass about the fact that Mary was never married. She seemed to boss and in charge and happy. And I wanted to be her. And I wanted her apartment- I still do 🙂
I spent last night watching some of my favorite episodes on Netflix (it’s not just on Hulu). Mary and Dick really did have amazing chemistry and comedic timing together.
Rob and Laura remain one of my all-time favorite TV couples. It’s also one of the few times the age gap doesn’t bug me – they always felt like equals. They respected each other and loved each other and were never pointlessly mean. For all The Dick Van Dyke Show features some dated cultural and social customs, in some ways it’s a better example of marriage than most of today’s sitcoms.
The episode of the Dick Van Dyke show where Laura comes rolling out of the closet on a sea of walnuts – amazing. The episode where she says, “Oh Rob, you’ve got a head of lettuce!” Um, YEAH, she was good at comedy-
The writers had to be smoking something more powerful than cigarettes…