Yesterday’s view of the mountains from my studio/office window.
Today? Very cloudy as of 8:30 a.m. I’m looking at that same view as I write this and I notice the rivers are back up to normal levels. They were alarming low for much of the summer and autumn, so this is good news.
Oh, Mary Tyler Moore. I was so saddened to hear of her death. Don and I, as you know, have been watching old episodes of The Dick Van Dyke Show, and Tuesday night Don said “I hope Mary Tyler Moore is doing okay,” with a slightly worried tone to his voice. And then, the next day, this sad news.
She meant so much to me. I spent many Saturday evenings at my friend Jackie’s house watching The Mary Tyler Moore Show. I loved that groundbreaking comedy about a single woman working in a newsroom. Surrounded by all sorts of interesting characters, Mary was a beacon of sanity and humor and embodied what I wanted to be: a single girl who had a full life working and dating and living – and who wasn’t bound by the assumption that one had to be married in order to have achieved something in life. And I did just that for many years. I tip my hat to Mary, with a grateful thank you.
How many of us wanted that apartment in the big house owned by Phyllis? It was charming. Beadboard, a lovely window on a raised level, a tiny and adorable kitchen, shag carpeting, a beamed cathedral ceiling. It was what every woman dreamed of – at least, everyone I knew at the time!
And on a side note, when I was a camp counselor during my college years, my friend Bev nicknamed me Rhoda because I reminded her of Rhoda as portrayed by Valerie Harper. For years and years, she called me Rhoda. I was honored.
Mary Tyler Moore was a wonderful actress and a marvelous comedienne. She was also an advocate for animals (another thing that I loved about her.) Don worked with her once, on a episode of The Naked Truth, a sitcom starring Tea Leoni. The episode was about a nudist camp! Don was sitting on the set and Mary got up, walked across the room, and introduced herself to him. I know that Don was more than a little in awe of her. She was everything you would expect her to be; gracious, kind, funny, professional, unassuming.
She will be missed. As we watched yet another episode of Dick Van Dyke last night, we kept saying, over and over, “Oh, Mary.” Oh, Mary, we love you.
Today, I am tuning out the world and simply remembering Mary Tyler Moore.
Tomorrow: a guest post from Don.
Happy Thursday.
Thank you Claudia! Sharing your memories and what Mary Tyler Moore meant to you. She inspired me and made me dream. I wanted to be her and live in that apartment. I loved that she was a kind and good person, open and honest about her problems, loved animals and made me smile with that smile! Thank goodness for so many good shows that are on film and we can continue to watch them and be inspired, laugh and love! Hugs.
I wanted to be her, too! Oh my goodness, that apartment! I fantasized about living there! xo
I loved her too. I loved that there was a TV show that had a single lady in her 30’s. All I ever dreamed about was being a wife and mother, but in high school and college I didn’t get much attention from boys/ men and I was losing hope. Then her show came on when I was in my early twenties and I had hope that I would be able to have a wonderful life being single. Things worked out for me and I got married and had four children. But when I started in labor with my fourth child on a Friday I was thrilled! I would be in the hospital on Saturday evening! Oh joy! With three little boys at home I saw the show only when bedtime went smoothly. That Saturday evening I was able to watch the entire show with my brand new baby girl in my arms. Now that little baby is a 37 year old single woman. She has never married and loves her life and I am sure Mary had something to do with that. It became OK to be a single lady when she was a baby! Thank you Mary! And I love Don’s story about meeting her. I wonder if she knew what an impression she made on the world? Looking forward to Don’s post tomorrow.
What a great story, Tana! Thanks so much for sharing it with us!
I was a newly married young woman and I wanted that black wrought iron plant stand that was in her apartment. It had plants all over it. I finally found one and had it for years. Of course, my was not iron but cheap metal and after about 10 years it fell apart. I really did love it so.
I remember that plant stand, Cindy!
I love her so! Sundance has been showing the MTM show on Thursday mornings. I have so enjoyed watching them again. That ‘M’ on her wall…. and when she moved to her new apartment, that was the first thing she brought with her and hung on the new wall. I loved that kitchen in the apartment with the window she could pull down. By watching the shows (6 or 8 at a time each week) it has been quite interesting to watch her progress as a single woman to a much stronger single woman as she and the show grew. The times, they WERE a-changing!!! She was such an influence to all of us growing up in those days. I think many women our age realized that there was an alternative to growing up and getting married right out of college. We COULD make it on our own!! Thanks, Mary!!!!
Loved the ‘M’ for sure. And the kitchen. And everything about the place! I think she was an enormous influence on all of us of a certain age. Loved her. Thank you, Chris!
I so wanted to be Mary Richards,the job, clothes apartment and car. Hey wait I did have a mustang then. One of the very few tv shows that I never missed. She was a remarkable woman, I will be humming the theme song for days .
I never missed it either. Time to start watching reruns, Mary! I’m going to watch all of them.
I was an MTM lover, too, and I don’t think we ever missed a show. She and the character she played both had a huge impact on me, my generation, and the ones who followed, as well! Though she and her character were much older than me, I was already married, working, and had two little boys when it was on. We all watched and loved it—the apartment, decor, clothes—everything! But I have to admit that my favorite part of the decor was the big M. To this day there are always letters and signage on my walls.
She was such a strong influence, wasn’t she? Saturday nights were the best night of television!
“ordinary people” is my favorite movie. it will always be my favorite movie. i remember when i saw it first, in a theater, and it seemed so real. i was feeling every minute/every personal revelation, right there along with tim hutton and donald sutherland, bookended by the performances of mary tyler moore and judd hirsch, and the genius directing of robert redford. then i read the judith guest book and even now, 35-plus-years later, i still watch the movie every now and then. i went searching this morning to see whether i could find more in print from moore or any of the other actors about it, and i found the article listed below, from entertainment weekly, apparently from last year or thereabouts. it’s a great read – now i understand. (claudia, forgive me putting the link in here – delete it and the comment as you wish) –suz in ohio
http://microsites.ew.com/microsite/longform/ordinary/index.html
I love her performance in that movie. Cried my eyes out. Tim Hutton breaks your heart, doesn’t he? I had read the book first, and I have to say it was one of the few movie adaptations that did justice to the book. Brilliant performances by everyone! Thank you for the link, Suz!
It was indeed sad news.
Very sad.
I am so saddened by the passing of such a wonderful woman. We too have been watching the Dick Van Dyke show on Netflix lately and we just love it. Mary was such a wonderful actress and an even better person. She will be missed. I’m going to have another cup of coffee and watch some more of Mary. Have a good day!
She will be greatly missed, Belinda. I think I’m going to watch some MTM later this week. I need to see it again. And, of course, Dick Van Dyke tonight!
Just a quick “medical” note: she beat the average life expectancy for type 1 by a large margin. Well done!
Oh, that’s interesting, Aunt Lou! She was a vocal advocate for those who had diabetes. So much to be admired about her!
Stunned to hear about MTM yesterday. Brought me a major flashback to college in the mid 70s. My roommate went home every weekend because her mom was a recent widow, so I was usually on my own Saturday nights – something I didn’t mind IN THE LEAST because of Sat night TV. I’d settle in with popcorn, just like I was at the movies, and spend the evening with CBS. All in the Family, The Jeffersons or MASH, Bob Newhart, MTM & Carol Burnett. That’s when appointment TV started, in my opinion. And there was never a wrong note. Mary & everyone else on her show were so spot-on perfect! She really was in everything she did. I might have to pull out my DVD of “Ordinary People” today. Loved her in that – such a departure from what we were used to seeing her do. Showed us that she was up for a challenge too. She was a wonderful role model for a whole generation of women, from The Dick Van Dyke Show on. So well-done, Mary – you’ve certainly earned your rest. May she be with the Force, whatever it is…. 💔
We watched all of those shows, too. The best line-up of the week. I read an article about her yesterday where she said she didn’t have to work after MTM productions, the show, and all the other shows they produced, so she only worked when she wanted to and when the role challenged her in some way. Ordinary People is a perfect example.
Thanks, Janet!
Oh yes….Mary will be missed. I too loved the MTM show….and religiously watched it every Saturday night. She left quite an impression on me….how she took on Lou Grant…her friendship with Rhoda, and her apartment. Oh, the apartment! Loved that “M”! I am looking forward to Don’s post tomorrow…no pressure! ;)
I will miss knowing she was with us here on Earth. Thanks, Donnamae!
Another MTM fan chimes in! And I also speak for my late husband…the MTM Show was one of his favorites. He liked strong independent women (which is why he loved me!), and MTM certainly fit that bill. My daughters became fans watching Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyle Moore show reruns on the retro TV stations. We all feel the lost of a talented, charming, smart woman who really did it on her own.
She really did. She had a troubled childhood, both parents were alcoholics, and she chose to live with an aunt when she could get out on her own. Her sister died from a drug overdose, her brother from cancer, and of course, she lost her only son to a shooting mishap in 1980. Bless her heart, she kept going in spite of her pain. She was so admirable.
Thanks, Wendy.
What a lovely tribute to Mary Tyler Moore! Just lovely. Yes, we all scheduled our Saturday nights around watching her show. Of course, it was before any recording devices so if you didn’t see it then, you had to wait around for re-runs. Aren’t we lucky re-runs are still being shown today. The view from your office is lovely. Such a nice place to “enjoy the view”. You’re the best!
Thank you, Lyndia. I will miss her, as will so many, many fans.
Newly married living in Boston and watching that great Saturday night lineup of Bob Newhart and Mary Tyler Moore on our 12″ black and white tv. Great memories.
Wonderful memories!
Mary Tyler Moore was such a positive influence to so many people. Most heartwarming to hear that she was just as wonderful to those who were lucky enough to know her in real life. No will ever throw a blue beret like the lovely MTM.
Iconic, that scene. We love you, Mary.
I loved the ‘open’ of the MTM show; watched it last night on YouTube and had a good cry. Loved the music; loved the tam thrown into the air. I hope I can see her statue in Minneapolis some day.
I got online for the first time yesterday quite late in the evening and had missed the day’s news; it made me so sad to know Mary Tyler Moore had passed…and sadder still to know (I had no idea) that she had been ill (quite ill) for the past three years particularly but also throughout her 70s when so many ‘seniors’ are still quite robust…but, you know, diabetes ravages the body; I speak as one who knows as I’m also afflicted.
To share a little story (this is real life): In my early 30s, I moved to another city as a single gal, fresh from a breakup with the long-term boyfriend I’d thought was The One. My car was a Mustang. I had long, dark hair like the early Mary Richards. I dressed somewhat trendy but was also conservative in many ways (‘a certain reserve’ [shy]). I got a small, 1-bed, upstairs apartment. Interviewed for a job as assistant/secretary to the general manager at a TV station, and got it. My nickname at the TV station soon became “Mary”; I was Mary Richards reincarnated (just not in the newsroom!) and that was A-OK with me!
(Although, in the high school years when I watched her great, SO entertaining Saturday night show [my whole family including Mom & Dad watched it, all of us together], I identified more with Rhoda as I looked and dressed like her a lot of the time, back then; I was more the boho/hippie-esque type at that age. But I loved spunky, smart Mary. Even if we didn’t realize it as teens, her character was influencing us very positively as we grew into being young women of the 70s.)
Love your single gal story that echoed Mary Richard’s story, Vicki!
She was such a positive influence – such a role model for an entire generation!
I loved Mary Tyler Moore also. I lived in Mpls. in an old area that looked much like where she lived and I think people felt these people in her show really reflected what Mpls. was like. It has always been ahead of the times. She was a great actress and person. RIP MTM.
I think it made me want to live in Minneapolis, Jan!
I was so sad to here of MTM’s passing but so grateful for the body of work she left behind. I loved everything your readers have already noted ,I’d have killed for that apartment, but the thing I remember most and laughed the hardest at we’re her parties! Poor wonderful Mary Richards just could not throw a decent party.
Deb
So very sad to think of the loss of Debbie Reynolds, Carrie Fisher, and now MTMoore. But grateful for all the hours and hours of entertainment and fun good times they gave us. A worthy legacy that will be with us endlessly. Dianne
Yes, indeed.
I just commented to my boss,that every once in a while, someone passes from this earth that really, truely, leaves an empty spot.Or hole if you will, that will not, Cannot, be filled.
I believe Mary TYler Moore is one of those people. What a huge loss. -JudyA-