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
YouTube video player - HTML5 compatible.
Highlights
Mary Tyler Moore on her "oh, Rob!" catchphrase on The Dick Van Dyke Show
Clip begins at: 04:41, Duration: 00m 39s- Mary Tyler Moore on The Dick Van Dyke Show episode "My Blonde-Haired Brunette" (airdate: October 10, 1961)
Clip begins at: 01:17, Duration: 01m 47s - Mary Tyler Moore on Lucille Ball giving her the greatest gift "she ever received in the business"
Clip begins at: 09:15, Duration: 01m 15s 
Mary Tyler Moore on the character of Mary Richards, exemplified on "The Good-Time News" episode
Clip begins at: 18:07, Duration: 01m 32s- Mary Tyler Moore on The Mary Tyler Moore Show episode "Chuckles Bites the Dust"
Clip begins at: 19:49, Duration: 02m 18s - Mary Tyler Moore on tossing hat in the air for the opening of The Mary Tyler Moore Show
Clip begins at: 26:07, Duration: 00m 45s 
Mary Tyler Moore on The Mary Tyler Moore show finale, "The Last Show" (airdate: March 19, 1
Clip begins at: 01:09, Duration: 02m 53s- Mary Tyler Moore on her work on the film Ordinary People
Clip begins at: 09:51, Duration: 02m 14s - Mary Tyler Moore on her Tony Award-winning Broadway role in Whose Life is it Anyway?
Clip begins at: 17:07, Duration: 01m 52s 
Mary Tyler Moore on how she'd like to be remembered
Clip begins at: 04:36, Duration: 01m 11s
Interview
- Part 1
- On growing up in Brooklyn, NY
Clip begins at: 0:71 - On moving to Los Angeles with her family
Clip begins at: 03:31 - On her first jobs, including playing "Happy Hotpoint" on Ozzie and Harriet ads, chorus dancing, and small acting roles
Clip begins at: 00:00 - On her first regular role on Richard Diamond, Private Detective
Clip begins at: 15:13 - On auditioning for The Dick Van Dyke Show and the relationship between Laura and Rob Petrie
Clip begins at: 17:46 - On working with Carl Reiner and developing her character on The Dick Van Dyke Show
Clip begins at: 24:43 - Part 2
- On some classic episodes of The Dick Van Dyke Show and her "oh, Rob!" catchphrase
Clip begins at: 0:68 - On working on The Dick Van Dyke Show; meeting and falling in love with Grant Tinker
Clip begins at: 05:20 - On winning her first Emmy, the success of The Dick Van Dyke Show, and her sadness at the ending of the series
Clip begins at: 16:26 - On her film and stage work after The Dick Van Dyke Show, including the ill-fated stage production of Breakfast at Tiffany's
Clip begins at: 21:02 - On being diagnosed with diabetes, starring in the special Dick Van Dyke and the Other Woman, and the formation of MTM
Clip begins at: 23:25 - Part 3
- On the development of The Mary Tyler Moore show and the casting of the ensemble
Clip begins at: 0:86 - On the development and reaction to the pilot of The Mary Tyler Moore Show
Clip begins at: 13:11 - On memorable episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, the origin of the show's opening, and going off the air
Clip begins at: 18:01 - Part 4
- On The Mary Tyler Moore show finale and the growth of MTM as a studio
Clip begins at: 0:64 - On her later variety special and series and her film work in Ordinary People and Flirting with Disaster
Clip begins at: 06:07 - On writing her autobiography, performing on Broadway in Whose Life is it Anyway?, and the TV movie Secrets of the Rose Garden
Clip begins at: 13:40 - On summing up her career, appearing on the "Lobster Diary" episode of Ellen, her animal activism, and her opinion on the future of TV
Clip begins at: 22:37 - Part 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
Clip begins at: 0:65
Shows
People
Topics
Genres
Professions
The links to all but Part 2 seem to be broken...
All five parts should now be available under the "INTERVIEW" tab. Thanks!
I'm having trouble finding part 1 of the MTM interview. When I click on Part 1 under "Interview" above, I get Part 2. Each of them then are off by 1, and I can only watch 4 of the 5 parts.
Can you help?
Thanks JohnnyM! We fixed the problem (we think) and you should be able to see Chapter 1 now, beginning with Mary talking about growing up in Brooklyn. Please let us know if you notice anything else amiss!
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!
Post new comment