by Herbie J Pilato
Growing up in the 1960s and 1970s, there were two kinds of people: Those who loved watching Mary Tyler Moore as Laura Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show (CBS, 1961-1966), and those who loved watching Mary Tyler Moore as Mary Richards on The Mary Tyler Moore Show (CBS, 1970-1977, and which was officially titled just Mary Tyler Moore).
Moore’s married Mrs. Petrie and single Ms. Richards were and remain monumental and groundbreaking television characters of their respective eras.
In real life, Moore has seen her share of personal struggles. She has battled Type 1 diabetes, admitted to excessive plastic surgery, and has married three times. Her first husband was Richard Carlton Meeker (1955-1961), with whom she had a son named Richie who committed suicide. She partnered with second spouse, Grant Tinker (1962-1981), and together they incorporated MTM Enterprises, a powerhouse TV production company responsible for a slate of hits in the 1970s and 1980s (including The Bob Newhart Show, Hill Street Blues, and other successes including Rhoda, Phyllis and Lou Grant—all three spun-off from The Mary Tyler Moore Show). But after their two-time failure to resurrect the variety show format in her favor (with a CBS skit comedy show in 1978 simply titled Mary, which was revised in 1979 as The Mary Tyler Moore Hour), their marriage crumbled.