Day Tripping: December 29

Made it on her own after all

Mary Tyler Moore was born in Brooklyn Heights in 1936. When she was eight, her family moved to Los Angeles. At the age of 18, she married 28-year-old Richard Meeker and six weeks later, she was pregnant with her first and only child.

For the next five years after her son’s birth, Mary earned small film parts and then a few minor roles in television. At the age of 24, Moore got the role of Dick Van Dyke’s wife Laura Petrie. Van Dyke was 35 at the time.

Her marriage ended a year later and then she won her first Emmy. While she was making capri pants fashionable and emulating the style of Jackie Kennedy in suburban America, Mary was becoming an alcoholic and in 1969 she suffered a miscarriage and was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.

“Pain nourishes courage. You can’t be brave if you’ve only had wonderful things happen to you.”

After seven years on the Mary Tyler Moore show which won 29 Emmys and three for Moore, Mary took a role as a grieving mother who lost her son in Ordinary People. It was less than a month after her real son Richard had died from an accidental gunshot wound.

Later in life, Mary Tyler Moore became chairperson of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and supported organizations that advocated for animal rights.

Musical Ride

Just after the release of their first album in 1967, Dave Mason announced he was leaving the band Traffic to pursue a solo career. Other members were happy to collaborate with founder Steve Winwood in songwriting, but Mason wanted full control of his work.

Gone But Not Forgotten

Creator of the Unisex fashion style, avant-garde designer Pierre Cardin died in 2020 at 98.

Notable Births

1947 — Ted Danson: “We are all in this together. We will all make it or none of us will make it. If everyone cleans up their act except one big ole country, it isn’t going to work.”

1972 — Jude Law: “My only obligation is to keep myself and other people guessing.”

K. Barrett Maria Rattray Maryam Merchant Dr. Mehmet Yildiz Tree Langdon Myriam Ben Salem Phil Truman Chelsea Mandler MAT Terry Mansfield Hollie Petit, Ph.D. Terry Trueman Dr. Preeti Singh John Gruber Bill Abbate James G Brennan ScienceDuuude Marcus Liam Ireland Claire Kelly Noorain Hassan, BMS Amy Pierovich David Acaster Nora Thewriteyard David Perlmutter Joe Luca Holly Kellums Michael Burg, MD Lucy Dan Dave Logan

All previous Day Tripping entries are available at the following links:

The Story Of Day Tripping Through History What’s Past Is Often Present

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