The documentary places Ms. Moore’s life in the context of the women’s movement and intersperses footage of feminist rallies, news about Roe v. Wade and clips from Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan. But while Ms. Moore’s TV self appeared to be fully in line with feminism, her personal life was more complicated. “She didn’t think feminism was that cheesy,” says Ms. Moore’s close friend, actress Beverly Sanders. “She identified with it to a point.”
Unlike the audaciously single Mary Richards, Ms. Moore has been married for virtually her entire adult life. She married for the first time at 18 and had her only child, a son named Richard; divorced; and soon thereafter married producer Grant Tinker, who shaped her career and with whom she founded MTM Enterprises, her hugely successful production company. Ms Moore wasn’t particularly independent at the time, but admitted she relied heavily on Mr Tinker’s judgement: “I was a person who really liked being directed and led.”
Your years with Mr. Tinker have been very challenging. She suffered a miscarriage and was then diagnosed at age 34 with type 1 diabetes (the complications of which plagued her for the rest of her life). She also battled alcoholism.
In 1978 her younger sister Elizabeth died by suicide. And perhaps most painful was her distant relationship with her son, with whom she found it difficult to connect. Friends often remark in the film that Ms. Moore was able to appear distant and distant off-screen, in contrast to her upbeat self on screen.
The Mary Tyler Moore Show ended in 1977, and Mrs. Moore began a new Mary Richards-style chapter in her personal life by divorcing Mr. Tinker and moving to New York City alone. Professionally, however, she left Mary Richards far behind and devoted herself to theater and film, particularly gifted in serious drama.
In 1980, Ms. Moore won a special Tony for her portrayal of a quadriplegic hospital patient in Whose Life Is It Anyway? And she was nominated for an Academy Award for her subtle performance in Robert Redford’s 1980 directorial debut Ordinary People as Beth, an emotional withdrawn mother mourning the death of one son and coping with the other’s attempted suicide.