Mary Tyler Moore (1936-2017): She Made It, After All

Mary Tyler Moore at the 45th Emmy Awards 9/19/93- Governor's Ball. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

How many people in the history of television could say that they've had not one, but two iconic roles on different shows?  Well, it was Mary Tyler Moore, who did more than "turn the world on with her smile", as the song went.  For her, talent was all around and she didn't waste it.

As Laura Petrie on "The Dick Van Dyke Show" (CBS, 1961-66), she was the epitome of the 1960s suburban housewife wearing capri pants on a sitcom about the writing staff of a TV variety show.

As Mary Richards on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" (CBS, 1970-77), she proved that as a single career woman working as a news producer at a TV station in Minneapolis, there was more to life than being married.  That resonated plenty with the women's liberation movement of the era, and Moore was credited with giving women the encouragement to kick-start their own lives and careers.

Moore won seven Emmy awards, two for "Dick Van Dyke", four for "MTM" and one for a cable drama called "Stolen Babies".  She wasn't as successful in TV after her iconic sitcoms left the air, but did make a name for herself in the movies and on stage.  She earned a Best Actress Oscar nomination for the 1980 film "Ordinary People", which not only won that year for Best Picture, but also Best Director for Robert Redford.  On Broadway, Moore won a Tony for her role as a paraplegic in "Whose Life Is It Anyway?", also in 1980.

Moore has success off camera, partnering with her then-husband Grant Tinker (who died a few months ago) on MTM Productions.  They were responsible for many other TV classics besides "MTM" during the 1970s and 80s, including "Rhoda". "Phyllis", "WKRP in Cincinnati", "Hill Street Blues" and "St. Elsewhere".

In Minneapolis, where "MTM" was set, the show became a source of civic pride.  In certain sections of downtown, you could find the places where Mary Richards lived, worked, and even had lunch.  There was a statue of her on the Nicollet Mall (since moved to a visitors center because of renovations), where she flung her cap in the air just like in the opening credits.

Mary Tyler Moore, after a lifetime of health problems, died Wednesday at age 80.  She leaves behind not only a record of achievement every time you turn on the TV, but also the millions of women (and men) for whom Mary Richards became a role model.

The proper tribute to Moore, so far as we're concerned, isn't the "Chuckles Bites The Dust" episode of "MTM".  It's the final episode.  Not when the cast does a group hug on their final day at WJM-TV, but when Mary was the last person to leave.  She takes a good look around the office, turns off the lights, and goes out the door with a smile on her face.