Mary Tyler Moore has been a television icon for over 42 years. Last night, the Screen Actors Guild recognized her accomplishments with the Lifetime Achievement Award. “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” which aired from 1970 to 1977, was the first of its kind. Moore played an independent career woman who had never married. As a single woman in her 30s, Mary Richards, Moore’s character, would become a standard for women who wanted more than marriage and children.
“The Mary Tyler Moore Show” would be hailed as one of the most acclaimed shows in the history of television in the United States. There were multiple Emmys awarded to the show and the cast. The show was named by Time Magazine as one of the 17 shows that changed TV. Moore was also on “The Dick Van Dyke Show, which ran from 1961-1966. Moore would go on to appear in a number of films, as well, including “Ordinary People.” She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for that roll. Her work also included a number of Broadway plays, including “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and “Whose Life Is It Anyway.”
Moore has said that she doesn’t watch any of new shows that are supposed to be a take on the career minded woman that she played so well. She said that she thought the storyline was done pretty well the first time around. She also cracked a joke when asked if she wanted to see any of the new actresses breaking a few taboos on television. Moore said that there simply aren’t any taboos anymore.
Moore said that she is very honored by the SAG award. She said that she tries not to think of it too much, but when she does, it reminds her that she has done something good and that is more important than any of the roles she’s had in the past. The “good” that Moore is referring to is her charity work for animal rights and juvenile diabetes.
