Mary Tyler Moore Turns 73 Today

Mary Tyler Moore’s first television job came just after high school graduation and by the age of 24, she was playing Laura Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show, one of the best television comedies of all time.

Then came a glorious seven year run as single working gal Mary Richards on another classic comedy: The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Many Emmys were won for the show including four by Moore herself (She had won two for Van Dyke and won a seventh in 1994 for the TV film Stolen Babies.

Mary, who turns 73 today, made several stabs at other series but none could match her two classics and were short-lived. But she was nominated for an Oscar for Ordinary People and won a Tony Award for the play Whose Life is It Anyway. She has shined in both comedy and drama with my favorite Mary roles including playing Ben Stiller’s Jewish mother in Flirting With Disaster and the television films The Last Best Year and Heartsounds.

Mary is still going strong with guest spots on such series as That 70s Show and Lipstick Jungle and this year had a role in the feature film Against the Current.