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Mary Tyler Moore’s Last TV Appearance Was Epic Reunion With MTMS Co-Stars

By Tito Ojo-Medubi
Published on: 05:39 PST, Jan 27, 2017

Mary Tyler Moore’s last moments on camera were with her former Mary Tyler Moore Show co-stars.

According to ET Online, the TV icon made her last appearance on an episode of Hot in Cleveland featuring a memorable reunion with her co-stars Betty White, Valerie Harper, Cloris Leachman, and Georgia Engel. Mary Tyler Moore passed on Wednesday after going into cardiopulmonary arrest. She was 80-years-old.

The happy gang came together to recast themselves as Betty White’s old bowling team, a scene that rekindled memories of the highly successful show. Moore at a press conference after the special episode had revealed that reuniting with her co-stars was wonderful, but also left a stark reminder of what she was missing in her real life.

“It’s wonderful, but it makes me sad too. It makes me feel, well, why don’t I have this in my current life? Where are all these friends, buddies and co-workers, and people who loved each other? Why can’t they be around? Or maybe they can.”

Valerie Harper took to social media Thursday to pay tribute to her friend. The 77-year-old who was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer tweeted to her 51,000 followers saying that she would miss Moore dearly, adding that their friendship would remain solid in life and death.

Harper is famously remembered on the Mary Tyler Moore Show as Rhoda Morgenstern, the impatient New Yorker who doubles as a neighbor to Mary Richard played by Moore. Both women became good friends and Harper would later go on to have her own off-shoot series, Rhoda which ran from 1974 to 1978.

The 77-year old also issued a statement to PEOPLE reacting to Mary Tyler’s Moore’s death. In the message, she revealed that her friend’s husband, Dr. Robert Levine had cautioned that his wife would soon pass on, adding that she and Moore were soul mates to the point they could predict their moods. Harper pointed out that it was an honor to have known her during her lifetime.

“Last week, to prepare me, I was kindly warned by Mary Tyler Moore’s dear husband, Dr. Robert Lveine, that she was in the very last stages of life. But I still cannot stop the emotions I’m experiencing, since she was my acting colleague, my sister/soul mate and above all, ONE HELL OF A GIRLFRIEND. Working together we knew each other so well we could anticipate each other’s moods…I will always feel privileged and honored with the amount of quality time I was able to spend with Mary.”

Betty White who played Sue Ann Nivens on the Mary Tyler Moore Show from 1973 to 1977 also paid tribute to her co-star who died Wednesday. The 95-year-old tweeted a 1970s picture of herself, Mary Tyler Moore, Moore’s former husband, Grant Tinker and her own late husband, Allen Ludden. She sent out the picture to her one million followers with the caption—“she was a special woman.” Betty White would go on to find more success in The Golden Girls on NBC.

Moore attained stardom in the 1960s as Laura Petrie, the stressed out wife on The Dick Van Dyke Show. She then went on to berth one of the first career-woman sitcom heroine roles with The Mary Tyler Moore Show. The TV legend won seven Emmy awards in a glittering career and got the nod for an Oscar nomination for the 1980 movie drama, Ordinary People, directed by Robert Redford.

The Mary Tyler Moore Show won 29 Emmys and ran for seven seasons. The talented woman would go on to produce a slew of successful shows with her second husband, CBS executive, Grant Tinker who died last year. Their MTM enterprises produced series like St. Elsewhere, Hill Street Blues and The Bob Newhart Show. Moore was married three times and had a son who died at an early age.

[Featured Image by Mark J. Terrill/AP Images]

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