Mary Tyler Moore on The David Letterman Show, October 13, 1980

[@michaelfitzpatrick9830]

I was in the studio audience for this episode. As u heard crowd went crazy for Mary. Always fun being in the audience for David's show. Brings back great fun memories. To be 18 years old again.

[@TimSimms7]

How was the free coffee? 😉

[@Tennkpt]

Wow awesome!

[@TheRoyalBavarian]

We were all blessed this lady was in the world. Pure class.

[@timgriffin3368]

Should've won the Oscar that year, not because she's been in the biz forever but because she was Sensational!!!

[@joeybaseball7352]

oscars are bought, not won.

[@timgriffin3368]

@joeybaseball7352 not true always, I could easily cite many examples

[@joeybaseball7352]

@@timgriffin3368 because its pay to play. it's just as political as running for office is. you have to campaign. even mo'nique stated publicly on many occasions that she was completely blackballed from the motion picture industry for not playing the game. no different than the team who wins the superbowl, or any major sporting event, the organization spent millions assembling their team to win. those players arent playing for free, or because they love the team so much. even tom brady jumped ship as soon as he was a free agent, and the bucs offered him more money. and he ends up winning with the bucs.

[@andyromano5837]

She was sensational, but this was one of the five best lineups of Best Actresses the Oscars have ever had. Sissy Spacek not only gave the best performance by an actress that year, she gave the best performance by any actor male or female, supporting or lead that year.

[@angelthman1659]

The big mistake was to submit her as lead actress. She was really a supporting character, and would have absolutely won if she was entered in that category. No way was anyone going to beat Sissy Spacek, especially since Sissy was the actual lead of her movie.

[@robstearns7080]

MARY TYLER MOORE'S PERFORMANCE IN ORDINARY PEOPLE IS ONE OF THE BEST PERFORMANCES IN HISTORY

[@MontagZoso]

Agreed!

[@Rob_Kates]

The film was just fantastic, a work of art.

[@jwmalcolm2282]

She could turn the world on with a smile❤

[@jeantetreault132]

...And she also really made it big, after all. Lol!

[@jamesdunn9714]

Mary was a beauty inside and out.

[@preetakumar6593]

To think she would lose her son just the next day after this interview.

[@akrenwinkle]

@preetakumar6593 You're right. Reports at the time say he was playing Russian Roulette with two female roommates, but later softened to say he was cleaning his gun. Sad irony: Cloris Leachman's son suffered a similar fate. Co-star Betty White would say that she made up her mind early on to forego motherhood, as it didn't mix with an acting career.

[@jank8365]

I Could not stop crying....GREAT Movie

[@tylerolsonfilms]

She was just wonderful in this part!!

[@JCO2002]

Thanks, Don. Great to see something from the morning show. Never watched the movie, but as a Canadian know quite well that Donald Sutherland is an excellent actor.

[@rickbreitenbecher124]

It’s excellent, Donald Sutherland (and the entire cast) does a great job.

[@OldMod67]

Great to see this, thanks. Mary Tyler Moore was an amazing actress. Cast against type by Redford, this is my favourite film of all time. The acting superb and casting spot on. I recall seeing an interview with Redford made around the time the film was shot, talking about the casting. I saw it on UK TV during an MTM night in the eighties, but not seen it since. If anyone has it to upload it would certainly be appreciated!

[@Rubin4749]

MTM was an extremely intelligent woman, and she proved (as if she needed to) that she was much much more than "a one trick pony". What a great lady. Few like her anymore.

[@WELCOME2PATSPLACE]

tv shows were so classy back then. listen to the applause they give her! wow!

[@tylerolsonfilms]

Oh bless her heart. Her one and only son died the very next day after this was filmed...October 14th 1980

[@humboldt777]

😱😱😱😱😱😥😥😥😥😥

[@jimgroff6880]

Thanks for the early stuff as of late. Always appreciated, Letterman is the best. 👍

[@keithlibeer9464]

That was a long clip. I am impressed they played them that long.

[@thelatebrianjones]

Longer than the average interview/ segment on any talk show these days

[@joho9815]

In my opinion she really should have won the Oscar for that movie

[@earlcampbell8927]

"You look good and you smell good." An honest, classy approach to flirting/complementing that worked well for Dave consistently for the next 35 years. I still get a kick out of the fact that at age 13, I saw the show and was pissed when it was cancelled. Little did I know he'd be back...

[@collegeman1988]

earl campbell David Letterman had a late night talk show that aired in the daytime, which is why it was canceled. David Letterman was no Merv Griffin, Mike Douglas or John Davidson. He was much, much better than all of them, which is why he got 2 late night talk shows on two networks and was around for 32 years. I still miss David Letterman. There won’t be another talk show host like him.

[@ApartmentKing66]

I was 13 when it went on, and 14 when it went off. None of us knew he'd be back.

[@ApartmentKing66]

@@collegeman1988 Well, I wouldn't go so far as to say that he was "better" or "worse" than Merv, Mike, or John. He was *different,* yes, but they all were from each other. Merv Griffin was a successful host in his own right throughout the 60s and 70s. In fact, Merv was considered for replacing Jack Paar on the Tonight Show before Johnny got it. I think his then-wife Joanne (sp?) played a part in his getting the Tonight Show. Dave did a different kind of show than John Davidson did. Dave was more into the edgy comedy than John Davidson was, along the lines of Steve Allen and Ernie Kovacs, whereas John Davidson did more of a traditional talk show (much like Merv and Mike). But having watched all four, I wouldn't say that Dave was *better* than they were UNLESS that's what you PREFER. I liked all four hosts for different reasons because they did different styles of shows, and thus, catered to different audiences. For the same reason, I wouldn't say that Rick Dees or Scott Shannon are better than Howard Stern, just different.

[@coldwinter5710]

@@ApartmentKing66 I can't imagine Merv Griffin in The Tonight Show role...how awful that would've been! I think he was a bit of a schmuck & a major suck up.

[@jamesfetherston1190]

Same age as me. I think once September rolled around Dave lost half his audience.

[@JKerr-iy2jr]

Another great addition to your collection, Don. Thanks!

[@David-dz3ig]

Great interview! What an extraordinarily talented actress! RIP MTM ! She looked stressed if you look at her eyes. 😞it’s as if she had been through a very stressful time in her life. 😢😢😢😢

[@juliananton7800]

David her son committed suicide at this time and her next divorce was the next big step in her personal life.

[@David-dz3ig]

Julian Anton exactly...you just made my point.

[@straycatttt]

Julian Anton , she had no idea her son accidentally would shoot himself the following day.

[@coldwinter5710]

Apparently her son died a day or two AFTER this aired, from an accidental gunshot wound, but he had been having huge problems. She admitted, after the fact, to not being the best mother to him, as she & her husband put their careers first. She had many problems growing up in a not so happy household, an alcoholic mother & very distant father, along with her own problems with alcohol she had kept very well hidden from the public. She had a LOT to draw on for her role in Ordinary People, that is for sure.

[@rhondatom2010]

@@juliananton7800, it was not suicide. It was an accidental discharge of his gun. Later that year, that model of gun was taken off the market because of its hair trigger.

[@JakeMabe1]

Really appreciate this upload, both because of Mary and because it's from the morning show.

[@NancySanders-om4ic]

Ms.Moore was an extraordinary human being.

[@prmaninla]

The backstory on this is so fascinating. Dave talks about being on Mary's ill-fated variety show for three weeks. While there he must have met Mary's husband at the time Grant Tinker, who was then head of MTM. After Mary and Grant divorced in 1981, Grant left MTM to be the CEO / Chairman of NBC. In 1981 Dave was given the slot for Late Night on NBC, which would debut Feb 1982. Dave absolutely impressed the right people. I wonder if he reflects on his success, and what those three weeks meant to his life.

[@yayin43]

From comedy to drama, she’s a very good actress. Didn’t know Redford is very good director. He brings out the acting needed to the screen.

[@invernessfan3017]

Ordinary People was a great movie. It was a deep and profound.

[@patricodesouza7453]

WONDERFUL CLIP AND SHE LOOKS AND SOUNDS LOVELY❤😊❤!!! VERY SADLY BASED ON WHAT I HAVE READ ON MARY TYLER MOORE,,, RIP,,, AMEN🙏🙏🙏!!! HER SON WOULD DIE ACCIDENTALLY THE NEXT DAY AFTER THIS BROADCAST,.. THEY ARE BOTH TOGETHER NOW🙏🙏🙏!!!

[@citygirl5705]

I just watched "Ordinary People" again. For probably the 20th time.

[@johndalton3180]

Wow dude! Thank you!!!

[@normanbonk8064]

I loved this movie!

[@judd442009]

Sadly, this interview was just one day before Mary's son, Richard, died of an accidental gunshot to the head at the age of 24 while handling a small shotgun.

[@moonnicks7587]

Her son passed away the day after this was filmed🥺

[@paulmackiewicz9836]

Very lovely and talented

[@rhondatom2010]

This clip states it was filmed on Oct 13, 1980. Her only son, Richie, died two days later on Oct 15, 1980, an accidental, self inflicted gunshot wound to the head 😢. So hard to watch this now, knowing what was about to happen. RIP Mary and Richie 💜.

[@TimeAxisMedia]

Good Lord, only two days later? That makes this a very haunting interview.

[@Idontwant1]

I didn’t remember that her son’s name was Richie. I wonder if the son on Dick Vandyke was named after her son. Thanks for the reminder of her son. I didn’t know he died so quickly after this interview.

[@Tennkpt]

@@TimeAxisMediahow sad.

[@Tennkpt]

Aww poor Mary. I just love her.

[@jvstcu76]

Mary really deserved the Oscar for her performance in "Ordinary People".

[@Reader1984]

OH MY GOD. This interview was just two days before her only son, Richie Meeker died of an accidental gunshot to the head while playing with his gun on October 15, 1980. (Although it was rumored that it was a suicide.) May she and her son Rest In Peace. Rest In Peace: Mary Tyler Moore, (1936-2017) Richie Meeker,(1956-1980)

[@lenwelch2195]

Mary fends off Dave’s personal question in the same way she did as Beth jarret did with Sutherlands character in the clip about going to the psychiatrist in the clip.

[@trixie5049]

True class.....rip Mary.

[@richardsignorelli9897]

This interview was one day before her son died and during or just preceding her separation from her second husband Grant Tinker.

[@nancysimmons2225]

I never watched the movie just saw bits and pieces of it I didn't like her character I guess I got used to her being on the Mary Tyler Moore Show maybe I'll watch it someday it's sad what happened to her son I think in a little bit the movie she was kind of like that they said she wasn't there for her son or her sister and her sister died from overdose her sister wanted to live with her to get away from her mom and dad but she won't let her I always liked her on the Mary Tyler Moore Show that's one of my favorite shows

[@christinav8628]

I just saw that! What a tragic loss she will suffer the very next day!

[@kirstyw.6854]

He died from gunshot right so it was sudden right ?

[@pdxtim97209]

I knew her son died around this time...but you could tell that it hadn't happened at the time of this interview. She is carefree in this interview.

[@WELCOME2PATSPLACE]

really?! damn that's SO sad that she lost a son in real life and not just in the movie. at least they're reunited now.

[@JKerr-iy2jr]

Dave REALLY seems to get into this interview.

[@liamhanrahan1798]

Remember, Mary helped get Dave his start by casting him as a regular on her short lived 1978 Variety Show Hour ( along with Michael Keaton, Swoosie Kurtz, & others )

[@videodudeX]

The Most Beautiful Woman Ever!

[@m.e.d.7997]

Her son tragically died on October 14, 1980.

[@dhpbear2]

Great clip, Don! One thing I noticed, the aspect-ratio is a bit off - the faces look a bit too wide! This is first one of your clips that I've noticed has this problem.

[@dongiller]

You tend to focus on things that really aren't all that important.

[@dhpbear2]

@@dongiller Sorry, very sensitive to this stuff. I'm amazed that so few people notice this even the aspect ratio is WAY off!

[@dhpbear2]

@@dongiller I was just giving you a heads-up. All of your videos have been consistent up to this point.

[@dongiller]

I could explain that I'm more than aware of the aspect-ratio. I could also explain that it can't be helped. and that some sources are to be accepted as is. But I won't. Instead, try to appreciate the rarity of what's being shared here without the constant and increasingly irritating need to point out imperfections. Life is just too damn short.

[@dhpbear2]

@@dongiller Sorry, Don. I am truly impressed at your collection.

[@Marchant2]

She looks better here than she did during the last couple of seasons of MTM show. Also, if I have to draw a conclusion, I'd say the color she is wearing here is one of her favorites. Her boots match, and if you watch MTM, her shoes are this color in quite a few episodes as well.

[@UberNeuman]

It's rare to see David just a bit shy.

[@plaws0]

Well ... I mean ... she's MARY TYLER MOORE and he's just david letterman.

[@davanmani556]

She also made him dance in her previous show.

[@maggiemag3569]

@@davanmani556 The worst time of his life, according to him.

[@humboldt777]

What made America great, not the crap it has now!

[@shaefox2229]

Does anyone know where I can find the clip of David Letterman testing whether cows face the wind or not?

[@dongiller]

Morning show? Late Night? Late Show?

[@shaefox2229]

@@dongiller Pretty sure it was Late Night, probably for Viewer Mail

[@dongiller]

Shae Fox Found it - December 22, 1983. I uploaded it in September 2017: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hH-2dqquhLFgrs0

[@shaefox2229]

@@dongiller THANK YOU SO MUCH

[@randyguess3124]

Wow. This was only one day before her son died.

[@m.e.d.7997]

Should have done more movies. She seems so happy here. Sad her son dies the next day.

[@earldouglas3631]

It is hard to believe that this was filmed on October 13, 1980 and the very next morning at 5:00 AM her ex-husband Grant Tinker would call her to tell her that her only son Ritchie was dead of an accidental gun shot wound. It shows how life can change in an instant.

[@GrandGame1440]

Great footage as usual, maybe an MTM compilation somewhere down the line?

[@andyrose5616]

Any idea who drew the bumper cards for this show?

[@dongiller]

Daniel J. Hathaway was credited with Electronic Graphics. And Bob Pook for Graphics. Perhaps Edd Hall also had a hand. Both Bob and Edd continued with Dave into Late Night.

[@andyrose5616]

The Electronic Graphics credit usually meant the person who operated the Chyron computer, so Pook seems to be the most likely artist.

[@adagiobreeze8493]

David Letterman goes back this far ? 😮

[@billfish8843]

By today's standards that "snippet" was marathon lengthed. Search "Dick Van Dyke Show," "Mary Tyler Moore" and "dancing" and be prepared to be amazed. Especially by the clip in which she says "I"m just a housewife!" before cutting a rug, as they used to say.

Such a beautiful woman. That perm. is not remotely flattering, though.

[@thenewctc]

Lol I was thinking her hair looks like Valeries from season 5 of Rhoda

[@nancysimmons2225]

Ya it wasn't nice on her or anyone I think she was letting it grow out

[@coldwinter5710]

This had to be in the mid 80's or early 90's. The hair styles for women AND men were awful! Big & too much! Ick... Agreed, her hair style here was matronly & very unflattering.

@@coldwinter5710 The date is in the title!

[@coldwinter5710]

@ Oh my goodness! LOL...My bad! However, I stand by my response...A horrible decade for hair (& fashion) was the 80's, & on into the mid 90's, for so many.

[@charlespatrick8650]

free coffee! 😂

[@angelthman1659]

I was apprehensive about watching this interview because Mary is a legend, and Dave had an abrasive style in those days that I found hilarious as a teen, but now see as rude and obnoxious. I was afraid he'd be disrespectful to this legend, like he was to others, but he actually did a good interview.

[@dongiller]

He had worked on her variety show two years earlier. They knew each other relatively well, better than other guests.

[@angelthman1659]

Yep, when they mentioned it I remembered they knew each other, and that's likely why he went easy on her. @@dongiller

[@anthonybrancale4855]

Apparently, her son died the next day. So sad.

[@plaws0]

www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/mary-tyler-moore-recalled-sons-accidental-death-at-24-in-memoir-w463205/

[@charlespatrick8650]

Dave must have felt awful for her having just spent time with her on his show when that news broke a day or two later

[@Reader1984]

OH MY GOD. This interview was just two days before her only son, Richie Meeker died of an accidental gunshot to the head while playing with his gun on October 15, 1980. (Although it was rumored that it was a suicide.) May she and her son Rest In Peace. Rest In Peace: Mary Tyler Moore, (1936-2017) Richie Meeker,(1956-1980)

[@WELCOME2PATSPLACE]

@@Reader1984 i'm not calling her son richie stupid but why the fuck would you play with a gun and have it aimed near your head?! was he high on drugs and fooling around you think?

[@lenwelch2195]

She deserved the Oscar for her role . Sissy was wonderful but it wasn’t much of a stretch.

[@stevenrichards3699]

44 years old , and she is still a beauty ! Not surprising she bagged a husband 18 years younger than her !

[@raphaellavelasquez8144]

I like to watch clips from Ordinary People and yell at Mary.

[@coldwinter5710]

She played the perfect major league super uptight bitch!

[@liamhanrahan1798]

@Raphaella Velasquez ...lol....

[@rain73ful]

Back in the day when Dave had a full head of hair.

[@plaws0]

Long movie clip ... gonna get pulled?

[@dongiller]

I first checked to see if other clips from "Ordinary People" had been uploaded. They had. So I figured it was safe.

[@plaws0]

@@dongiller As others have said, thanks for the morning show stuff! And man did MTM look good here.

[@leonardstilwell1894]

Back in the old days when consideration to attention spans wasn't as big of a concern :)

[@plaws0]

@@leonardstilwell1894 That and for part of its run, tDLS aired for 90 minutes ...

[@DJRitty]

She was the first woman I ever thought was beautiful. I can't help but sing the theme to MTM when I watch it and I actually cry at the end every f'n time. I don't get it lol Smh... That one scene where she's wearing a fur and has a white hat on she looks gorgeous. It's a quick shot but she is the definition of beauty there. Unfortunately she didn't LATE age well. So WEIRD. Of all people. Maybe it was her diabetes but she had so much plastic surgery her face didn't move on that 70's show. She's still FUNNY on that show but her face just doesn't have any expression but insanely happy by that point lol I always thought MTM could have been rebooted with milla kunis. She reminds me of mary in many ways...

[@DJRitty]

How a show with MTM, Letterman and Michael Keaton bombed is beyond me...some exec later down the line was fired.

[@shawnuel]

And Swoosie Kurtz

[@harpervalleypeeteeay9708]

She was amazing. Curly, short, dyed permed hair was awful in this, liked her dark brown long hair better

[@lenwelch2195]

Her knives like Beth Jarrett were always close by . After her sons death she learned to throw the knives away a little bit .

[@jllee9189]

OMG - the very next day after appearing on this show, Mary Tyler Moore’s son dies of a self afflicted gun shot.

[@abcxyz8787]

It seems like she was such a great woman and warm personality yet she managed to perfectly portray a cold and emotionally damaged woman.

[@variousJnames]

Life really does imitate art. She had just filmed Ordinary People. Her only son shot himself the day after this aired. He was only 24.

[@james5460]

Very awkward interview imho. She looked like she wanted to bolt when he asked her how she "got the job." In fact, she seemed to want to get out of there ASAP. "Highlight of my morning" - wow, damning with faint praise. So, she based it on "uncommunicative people who give people around them a problem" - hmmm, many have said that about DVD.

[@johndalton3180]

MTM, like Sally Field who just released a very interesting memoir, was nothing like her on-screen persona. She was remote, cold, and really built a wall. I don't think even friends were allowed to get too close. The way she was was way more like her character in Ordinary People than Mary Richards. She had an affair with Robert Redford during the making of the movie. I think she was pretty broken up over it when it was over. Terrible irony that her son killed himself, given the subject matter of the movie she was promoting at the time. Very sad.

[@kennethrussll6059]

John, I didn't know Mary and Redford had an affair during the filming.

[@johndalton3180]

@@kennethrussll6059 Yeah, it's one of those things that's an open secret- if you read Mary's autobiography it's there between the lines. Whatever was going on at the time worked to their advantage because she gives one hell of a performance.

[@johndalton3180]

@Dusk Hollow Kathy Griffin old a story about meeting MTM at the Emmys backstage. Don Rickles was there. Kathy told Mary how much she meant to hear growing up, the whole nine yards. Mary politely thanked Kathy and went on her way. Rickles, having witnessed the exchange, said to Kathy "Mary isn't what you'd call warm" That is the kind of thing I meant. Self-protective to the point of seeming cold.

[@johndalton3180]

​@Dusk Hollow That to an observer, or to someone she was meeting for the first time, her protectiveness may have been seen as coldness. That Don Rickles may have been out of touch, or senile when he met Kevin Hart has no bearing on any of this.

[@m.e.d.7997]

Add to the two of them Lucille Ball. Serious, nothing like Lucy Ricardo at all.

[@jetsgardner5490]

I'm so glad this show was canceled so he'd go on to Late Night where he belonged.

[@deangray9552]

I think it’s interesting. the way things evolve . the band her was not a good mix . Dave is Dave