Saturdays with the Stars: Mary Tyler Moore

Each month of 2024 we are taking a look at an actress who bore the title "America's Sweetheart" during the peak of her film fame, and what she did with the title (including when it was passed on to the next Hollywood princess).  Last month, we focused on Sandra Dee, a blonde beauty with a tragic real-life story that was mocked further when she became a pop culture punching bag in Grease.  This month, we're going to focus on an actress whose primary fame was not in film, but in television, and that was honestly where she gained her title as "America's Sweetheart."  But I wanted to talk about the actress because I think she's a fascinating example of a TV actress who, while she didn't find equal fame in the movies, was able to sustain her career through the cinema.  This month's star is Mary Tyler Moore.

Born in Brooklyn to an Irish-Catholic family, Moore moved to California as a young woman, and from an early age tragedy was a major part of her life, with her younger sister Elizabeth dying from issues with drugs at the age of only 21.  In Los Angeles, the comely Moore started to do commercials, which eventually turned into television guest spots on TV series like The Tab Hunter Show, 77 Sunset Strip, & Lock-Up.  Her big break came in 1961, when she was cast as Laura Petrie in The Dick van Dyke Show.  The series became a mammoth critical & commercial hit, and turned Moore into a household name.  A decade after Dick van Dyke began, Moore would star in what is considered by many to be the greatest sitcom of all time, her eponymous Mary Tyler Moore Show.

Moore was one of a number of women in the 1960's and 70's who would fit the bill of "America's Sweetheart" and was a major name in television; others included Elizabeth Montgomery, Barbara Eden, Marlo Thomas, & Sandy Duncan.  But what sets Moore apart from these women is she gained more critical acclaim as a TV performer (winning five Emmy statues), and success in film.  Moore would star opposite major names of the era like Robert Wagner, Julie Andrews, Elvis Presley & Jack Lemmon, and would eventually win an Academy Award nomination.  Moore would also, sadly, fit the trope of many of the women we've profiled this year, fighting inner-demons as well as suffering unspeakable personal traumas throughout her life.  This month while we'll talk about her television success, we're going to look primarily at her work on film, and the legacy the actress left there that is oftentimes forgotten in the spotlight of her two legendary sitcoms.