This is Fresh Air, I'm Tanya Mosley.

Mary Tyler Moore became famous and beloved for the funny and plucky characters she played

in the 1960s and 70s on the Dick Van Dyke show and the Mary Tyler Moore show.

She's now the subject of a new HBO documentary titled Being Mary Tyler Moore, premiering

tonight.

Here's a clip from it where she describes getting an early boost from a famous TV comedian

while on the set of the Dick Van Dyke show.

Lucille Ball was our land lady.

She owned Desi Lou and we'd be rehearsing on the set and then we'd hear a laugh that

wasn't coming from the floor.

We looked up and there she was on the catwalk and she'd be up there watching us just observing

us and I will never forget one day she came up to me and she said, you're very good.

That was the greatest gift I ever received.

We're going to listen to Terry's 1995 interview with Mary Tyler Moore.

Over the years she played two extremes very convincingly, the sitcom Mary, the person

everyone wants is their best friend and the cold, steely character she played in the film

ordinary people.

She died in 2017 at the age of 80.

At the time of this interview, she had written her autobiography after all, revealing

much about her private life including her traumatic childhood, her multiple marriages and

her alcoholism.

Before we get to the interview, let's hear some of her as Laura Petrie on the Dick Van Dyke

...