Critics Choice Award and Emmy Nominee for Outstanding Documentary Or Nonfiction Special
With unprecedented access to Mary Tyler Moore’s vast archive, “Being Mary Tyler Moore” chronicles the screen icon whose storied career spanned 60 years. Weaving Mary’s narrative with the beats of her professional accomplishments, the film highlights her groundbreaking roles and her indelible impact on generations of women who came after her. Mary’s career broke boundaries in different eras, most notably in her comedic roles as Laura Petrie in the 60s sitcom, “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and as a single career woman. Mary Richards on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” in the ’70s, both of which put her at the forefront of female representation on television and cemented her as a role model for independent working women. Acknowledging that much of herself was woven into her sunny characters, she nevertheless struggled behind the scenes, dealing privately with immeasurable tragedy in her personal life. Some of this tragedy was echoed in her portrayal of a grieving mother in the 1980 film “Ordinary People”, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award.
In the last thirty-five years of her life, Mary went through a transformative period of self-discovery, moving to New York City, finding true love, and becoming an impactful global advocate for diabetes research. The film documents the life of a complex artist who shifted the dynamics of how women were portrayed on television, had far-reaching influence on the business through her own production company, and helped affect significant change through her work as International Chairman of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
From producers Lena Waithe and Debra Martin Chase, director James Adolphus and executive producer Dr. S. Robert Levine, “Being Mary Tyler Moore” is the definitive feature documentary that explores Mary’s life and vanguard career.
Now available on Max
Official Movie Trailer
Being Mary Tyler Moore, an HBO Original documentary, examines the extraordinary life, career, and legacy of the actress and activist. The film was directed by James Adolphus with Lena Waithe and Debra Martin Chase as producers and Dr. S. Robert Levine as executive producer.
Lena Waithe Interview at SXSW
Lena Waithe and the filmmakers behind the documentary ‘Being Mary Tyler Moore,’ director James Adolphus, producer Debra Martin Chase and Mary’s husband Dr. S. Robert Levine, share why they each wanted to tell the story about the TV icon and how Mary impacted them.
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