Mary Tyler Moore’s Life Through Rare Vintage Photos

Just Showing Off

Mary Tyler Moore was born in Brooklyn in 1936 and had dreamt of stardom since she was a small child. In 1997, the actress told the Archive of American Television, “I knew at a very early age what I wanted to do.”

She continued, “Some people refer to it as indulging in my instincts and artistic bent. I call it just showing off, which was what I did from about three years of age on.” Clearly, the practice paid off!

A Brooklyn Girl

Mary Tyler Moore grew up in an Irish-Catholic family and lived with them in Brooklyn. The actress’s father was a clerk, and her mother worked in the home. Mary was the eldest of three children, with a younger brother named John, and a younger sister named Elizabeth.

Eventually, the family moved from Brooklyn to a rented apartment in Queens. Years later, after spending time working outside of the city, the actress returned to live in The Big Apple.

Moving to the Sunshine State

When she was only eight years old, Mary Tyler Moore’s family moved to Los Angeles. Moore had been raised Catholic and attended a Catholic school when the family was living in Brooklyn. After the move, the future actress enrolled in Saint Ambrose School in Los Angeles.

Moore’s mother Marjory is quoted in According to The Real Mary Tyler Moore by Chris Bryars, saying that Mary was “a pain in the neck to raise.” This is because she always wanted to dance and act.

Attending Immaculate Heart High School

Here we have a yearbook photo of Mary Tyler Moore’s from 1955. It was taken during her time at Immaculate Heart High School — a private Catholic prep school in L.A. Alongside this sweet image of Moore were the words, “The world is always ready to receive talent with open arms.”

When she returned to the school to celebrate its centennial in 2006, Moore commented, “I wanted to be a dancer — despite the cautions of Mother Eucharia [then IH principal] against my wearing short skirts in the school’s musical comedies.”

Marrying Richard Meeker

Mary Tyler Moore was married three times in her life, first to Richard Carleton Meeker. The pair tied the knot straight after Moore’s graduation from high school — she was just 18 years old and he, 10 years her senior, was 28 years old. After Meeker had served in World War II and the Korean War, he went on to have a career in management.

Looking back, Moore admitted that she left “the complicated but protective, even totalitarian, environment of my parents’ unstable home for the adventure of ‘wifedom’ and motherhood.”