Brooklyn born beauty…
Greetings and salutations from the sand, sun and surf of Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and the dark, dreary, misty, mysterious, mild and quite mannered island of Nantucket! Good to be with you on this Friday, High Noon, The Twenty-Sixth Day of January, 2017, a gloomy one ‘down on the docks’, almost looking like a scene from the days of Wyatt Earp and the OK Coral, “
…arrgghhh matey!”
The passing of one of Hollywood’s gems struck this humble reporter rather hard, as she represented the good that that once great medium represented by and large… Mary Tyler Moore was more than just a beautiful woman who caught my eye even as a very young lad, seeing her as the wife on “The Dick Van Dyke Show”, way, way, way back, and these were re-runs, ‘…what’s a re-run?’ (credit: the film “Back to the Future!”, circa 1985); 1969 or thereabouts. Her incredible charisma and unmatched comic sensibilities made her the undeniable star of that, her first hit series. It only went UP from there. Way up! “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”, a huge hit series from 1970-1975, only solidified the previous fact of who she truly was deep down inside, beyond the hype…
Hollywood’s Best Picture in the year of 1980 went to “Ordinary People”, starring Mary Tyler Moore as the icy wife to Donald Sutherland mild mannered husband, dealing with the loss of their oldest boy. “Beth” struggling with the loss, not knowing how to cope with losing her favorite, a fact obvious to Timothy Hutton, playing her surviving younger son. The tension and real angst of both character’s drove home the Gold that year.
She deserved more than just a nomination for Best Actress; wouldn’t you agree aging Academy?
Perhaps this reporter’s favorite was one of “Mrs. Coplin”, Ben Stiller’s adopted overbearing mother, hence with adoptive ‘problem’ that is the premise of the film. Hilarious does not begin to describe this movie. In general, however, “Mrs. Coplin” truly shined, creating one of her most hilarious moments on the big or little screen(s).
When I think of watching The Mary Tyler Moore Show with my mom, dad, sister and brother, on our Saturday nights where we all got cozy and followed it up with the hit 70’s shows of “M.A.S.H.”, “The Bob Newhart Show”, and “All in the Family”, not necessarily in that order, well, one just can’t help but think one lost a loved one. So God Speed Mary Tyler Moore, I will miss you! And for what it’s worth, here are a few parting words that describe what you taught me, by being you. Thanks.
Humility is my middle name…
Gratitude is my last name…
LOVE is my first name!
LOVE, LIGHT and FROGS! Peace~M
