Remembering Mary Tyler Moore

The content for this blog is a little overdue, but I’ve been dealing with a sickness, and then a secondary flu virus.  Anyway, as you may have seen from the title, I wanted to say a few words regarding Mary Tyler Moore; she passed away on Wednesday at the age of 80.

 

Even though I didn’t know Mary personally, her work had an impact on my life.  To begin, she was absolutely fantastic as Laura Petrie on “The Dick Van Dyke show.”  This show is iconic.  I still watch it to this day.  I love seeing the devotion that Rob and Laura Petrie had for each other.  Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore shared a special chemistry.  I thought about recounting some of my favorite episodes, but I don’t know how; every episode is so good in its own unique way.  However, I would be remiss if I didn’t emphasize Laura’s crying.  It was a comedic, exaggerated kind of crying; it always makes me smile, even in thinking about it now.  To make something that simple so memorable is a tribute to Mary.

The second part of Mary Tyler Moore’s impact on me is, of course, “The Mary Tyler Moore show."  I’m getting emotional as I think about watching this show with both my mom and my dad.  We would often say that Mary was so good because when she was playing Mary Richards you didn’t think of Laura Petrie (the only exception to this for me was whenever Mary Richards cried).  To be able to pull this feat off is the sign of a good actress.

I was watching a documentary on “The Mary Tyler Moore show” recently in honor of Moore.  They pointed out that Mary Richards rarely lost her temper, but she still voiced her opinion in a quiet, matter-of-fact, way to get her point across; she would say something like, “I don’t think what you just did was very nice.”  Moore said in the documentary that this was an extension of her personality.  I love this tactic.  If only more people followed that same method.

Like “The Dick Van Dyke” show, I could go on and on about “The Mary Tyler Moore show” but let me just wrap it up here by saying that Mary left an enduring legacy.  I will continue to treasure these two series.  I want to wish my condolences to her family and friends.  I know something about loss.  You are never really prepared for a loved one to pass away.  It’s very tough.  Perhaps it will be a small comfort to know that millions of fans are grieving along with you.

Kevin