Mary Tyler Moore — No lovelier three words have ever been spoken. Without going into my usual tedious detail, the least I could say is that Mary was a phenomenon; she was an impactful force of comedic talent—a skill, by the way, she quite literally “picked up” and very quickly acquired right after being hired to do The Dick Van Dyke Show[!]—as well as being a gifted dancer and singer, to go along with her obvious beauty and charm. She easily lived up to the very definition behind that old show business term “triple threat.”

Obviously, much, much more could be said here about this talented, witty, intelligent and beautiful perfect storm called “Mary Tyler Moore,” and about the groundbreaking show “The Dick Van Dyke Show”—incredibly groundbreaking on multiple levels—but I’ll spare you my opinions; at least for now. She’ll crop up in later posts; on that, you can bet!.

The shot above : Mary Tyler Moore smoking, standing with Dick Van Dyke between takes on the set of The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961-1966). Although one of the show’s sponsors was Kent cigarettes, photographs or video of MTM partaking are rare. However, the cast, including Mary, did act in commercial spots—advertisements produced by the show and aired during ad breaks.

I’ve just purchased the 2012 Blu-ray release of the entire series. The box set includes the aforementioned ads. Check back to this blog for GIF files and photos in the near future.

Fetish obsession note:

MTM played a significant role in the development of my “affliction”; my penchant for lovely women, and especially for smoking women. She is referenced in an upcoming chapter of my ongoing personal story being published on this blog. Her resemblance to one of my aunts back during the days when this series was being aired, is striking, to say the least.

From the very first episode:

“The Sick Boy and the Sitter”

Season 1

Episode 1

Aired on October 3rd, 1961

_______________________________________________________

R.I.P: Mary, Carl, Rose Marie, Morey, Richard, Jerry and Jerry, Ann, Sheldon and Danny. Not enough thanks can be expressed for all the years of joy and laughter.