Carl Reiner Remembers When He Discovered Mary Tyler Moore And His Last Words to Her
Some 56 years ago, Carl Reiner created The Dick Van Dyke Show and launched the career of the titular star and his on-screen wife, Mary Tyler Moore, who passed away on Wednesday at the age of 80.
Related: How the Iconic ‘Mary Tyler Moore Show’ Hat Toss Came to Be
A few years back, he told Conan O’Brien all about sifting through over two dozen actresses to find the gem that was Moore:
“I saw 26 girls, literally, I said to Sheldon, I can’t find the girl, the wife, Laura. He says, ‘You’ll know when you find her, you’ll know when you see her.’” Reiner would not have to wait long, because as fate would have it, “This girl came in, Mary Tyler Moore, looking like Mary Tyler Moore. Great gams, beautiful girl… I gave her a piece of script to read, and she read the first line and had a ping in her voice. And I did this, I made my hand like a claw like in the machines at the carnival that get candy out of the things, and I went across the room, I went to her head, and I grabbed the top of her head and said, ‘Come with me.’ I walked her across the hall to Sheldon, and I said, ‘I found her!’ That was it!”
After that audition, Moore, Reiner and Van Dyke made 158 episodes of the series, and remained friends until the end. He recently told Entertainment Tonight about the last words he spoke to the actress before her passing, “I spoke to her husband a day or so before she passed away, and I remember telling him, ‘She may not hear you, but whisper in her ear that it’s OK to go. You can go.'”
Remembering Moore and her contributions to comedy, the arts, and his career, Reiner became overcome with emotion, “I’ll never forget you for what you did for me.”
Mary Tyler Moore’s Most Memorable TV Roles…
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