HBO will premiere a new documentary, “Being Mary Tyler Moore,” on Friday, May 26 at 8 p.m.
Told through archived footage of the late actress and interviews with family and friends, the documentary covers Moore’s childhood, her career, her personal tragedies and her work with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. What the documentary doesn’t show viewers is her life in Greenwich, where she spent the later years of her life.
Towards the end of the film, viewers are shown an exterior image of the Greenwich home where Moore lived with her third husband Dr. S. Robert Levine, but the scene quickly changes to showcase photos and memorabilia from Moore’s career. While the film doesn’t mention Greenwich by name, it does show private footage of Moore’s life after marrying Levine and her spending time with the horses at her Millbrook, N.Y. home.
Moore was a television pioneer and comedian known for “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” In the new documentary, directed by James Adolphus and produced by Lena Waithe, audiences are shown how Moore’s career helped change the landscape for women in Hollywood. The film credits her not only through her role of Mary Richards, a single career woman, but with her series’ depiction of women and the show’s practice of hiring women writers.
Moore died at age 80 at Greenwich Hospital in 2017 and was near-blind by the end of her life due to Diabetic Retinal Disease. After her death, Levine formed the Mary Tyler Moore Vision Initiative, which works to preserve and restore vision for people living with diabetes.
Moore was buried at Oak Lawn Cemetery in Fairfield. When she died the Greenwich International Film Festival paid tribute to her on their website, referring to her as “Greenwich’s sweetheart.” At the time of her death, former Greenwich First Selectman Peter Tesei said, “Mary Tyler Moore was a long-time resident of the town and certainly an iconic figure in the entertainment and cultural world of our country.”
In 2021, the Greenwich Historical Society recognized her former home with a landmark plaque.
