Posted on 08/05/2014 2:06:33 PM PDT by Maceman
FULL INSIDE STORY! Gripped by dementia, the beloved TV star is wasting away and is said to be on her deathbed.
Sadly, Mary’s battle with diabetes, kidney and heart disease – as well as Alzheimer’s and dementia-related symptoms – is nearing an end, sources say.
With her eyesight and hearing nearly gone, the 77 year old’s remaining strength is fading, following a series of devastating emotional and physical blows, according to insiders.
But now family and friends are joining Mary’s devoted third husband, Dr. Robert Levine, at her bedside in the couple’s Connecticut mansion, multiple sources tell The ENQUIRER.
“Mary often can’t speak due to her deteriorating state, but at times she’s lucid and cries out from memories of her past,” said a source, sharing an intimate glimpse of her sad last days.
The once-bubbly brunette remains haunted by thoughts of her son, Richie Meeker, who tragically died at age 24 in 1980 from a self-inflicted accidental gunshot wound, said the source.
“The death of her dear Richie, which was also the name of her TV son on ‘The Dick Van Dyke Show,’ devastated Mary,” said the source.
“It’s left a lasting impact on her for more than 30 years. Now Mary longs to be at peace, and she knows that in death she’ll be reunited with her only child. She’s been heard to cry out, ‘I’ll be with my Richie soon.’”
Another source told The ENQUIRER: “Mary has been fading, but with all the will she has left, she’s refused to leave her home. She wants to pass peacefully in her bed surrounded by her husband, her pets and closest friends.
“It’s heartbreaking to see her like this – wasting away as she is – but it’s the end for Mary. She’s almost completely blind and deaf.”
As The ENQUIRER reported in its June 9 issue, sources said Mary was exhibiting symptoms similar to dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, and friends feared she could be dead in three months.
The ENQUIRER also reported friends had urged Levine, her cardiologist husband of nearly 31 years, to place Mary in a nursing home after a series of incidents and accidents sent police and medics to their $12 million gated Greenwich estate.
“But Mary refused to enter an assisted-living facility, even though it could offer round-the-clock care and possibly extend her life,” said the source. “It wasn’t what Mary wanted, and her distraught husband wanted to make her as comfortable at home as possible.”
The second source added: “Mary is at peace in her house, but she suffers from a laundry list of physical ailments that are close to taking her.
“She has heart and kidney problems, and at times, she can’t see and she can’t hear.
“She’s almost completely debilitated, and there are fears that she’ll lapse into a vegetable-like state.
“Only a miracle would bring Mary off her deathbed – and while Robert and her friends hope for recovery, it sadly looks like that won’t happen.”
Besides her physical ailments, Mary was crushed emotionally when she learned that longtime Hollywood pal James Garner, 86, had passed away on July 19.
Mary and James, the handsome hero of TV’s “Maverick” and “The Rockford Files,” co-starred in the 1984 made-for-TV movie “Heartsounds.”
“Jim was a dear friend and they grew close when they worked together,” said the source.
“Mary often reminisced about working with Jim, and always said that he was one of Hollywood’s good guys.
“They tried to keep the news that he’d passed from her, but Mary found out. She broke down afterward. I’m afraid Jim’s death reminded her that her own time was coming to an end.”
Mary was distraught that, for the second consecutive year, she was unable to attend the annual fund-raiser for Broadway Barks, the animal charity she founded with actress Bernadette Peters, said the second source.
The July 12 gala in New York’s Shubert Alley featured celebrities from Broadway’s hottest shows promoting adoption of shelter pets and raising money to benefit multiple New York City animal shelters and adoption agencies.
“Mary is a great animal lover, and it’s the one event she looks forward to every year,” said that source. “Missing it was a bitter pill for her to swallow.”
During her glittery career, Mary won two Emmys for “The Dick Van Dyke Show” in the ’60s and three for “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” in the ’70s. She starred with Elvis Presley in the 1969 film “Change of Habit” and was nominated for an Oscar for the 1980 drama “Ordinary People.”
The legendary actress was last photographed in public April 6, 2013, at Los Angeles International Airport while heading home after shooting an episode of the TV Land sitcom “Hot in Cleveland.” She appeared pale, gaunt and hollow-cheeked.
The episode reunited her with former “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” co-stars Valerie Harper, Cloris Leachman, Betty White and Georgia Engel. It aired Sept. 4, 2013, and marked Mary’s last showbiz appearance.
The Hollywood icon filmed the episode despite a years-long struggle with multiple health woes. She has battled Type 1 diabetes for four decades and suffered serious complications.
As The ENQUIRER has reported, Mary also suffered two nasty falls at her home. In one 2013 tumble, she broke her hip and fractured a shoulder. She was hospitalized and then developed pneumonia. In a previous fall, the once-perky star crashed down four stairs, shattering her collarbone and several ribs.
She also required risky surgery in May 2011 to remove a benign brain tumor.
The first source said: “Everyone is praying for the best.”
I really enjoyed her in both the Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore Shows. She was a real cutie and she always made me laugh...especially with her lack of confidence in the MTM show. :)
Yes, she was a prettier version of Jackie, IMO.
You’re right. Sometimes real life and film roles become so similar, people get them mixed up. Especially here. Mary’s real break from ‘silly office girl to serious television producer’ happened in 1980, when she starred in Ordinary People. Ordinary People just happened to be about the accidental death of an older son in an affluent family.”
I think MTM productions developed into a prototype of what later became Fox Cable TV.
My wife and I were big fans and my wife looked like Mary in those younger days. I am 77 so this story HURTS.
I agree, it’s disgusting.
IIRC, she was also ‘the leg’ on the TV show, Peter Gunn.
love MTM on the Dick Van Dyke show... she was so darn pretty, and fit, and extremely funny. I had such as crush on her as boy. That show was being replayed last year on MeTv, locally here in Los Angeles. It was a real treat to watch.
Her ‘leg’ was in the Richard Diamond, Private Detective TV series.
[I couldn’t remember which one. I thought ‘Peter Gunn’ in my previous post.]
I think gunns gf was a night club manager or singer
Hope she will have PEACE, she was really something in her heyday!
I am not sure that is true. Dick Van Dyke was an alcoholic and his wife became one with him as she took up drinking to be able to spend time with him.
Unless you go sooner...we all get old, and we all die a physical death...Let the women go in peace..why do we need tabloids covering ever step to the grave like a sports event
You could see Mary on Cozi TV every week night
I think to safe to say some of Freepers who have play dead pool kinda knew that she was at the end
God's final blessing that takes you home in his time is best.
There are times when I ponder if I should not have personally notified the many, oh there has been so many, actors and actresses that provided me with such outstanding entertainment
Both Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore were part of that and even today I enjoy reruns. In fact, the reruns cause me to see more of their talent that I did when I first saw them. Dick Van Dyke is a comedic genesis at physical comedy and I had not realized that while captivated by Mary Tyler Moore.
I felt the same the other day upon hearing of James Gardner's final blessing.
Go with God.
So it has been said, Rob and Laura Petrie were modeled after JFK and Jackie.
Say what you want about the National Enquirer, but, unfortunately, they're usually pretty accurate when they run one of these "brave last days" articles about a celebrity.
The “Dick Van Dyke Show” comes on twice a day here. I watch it sometimes.
Truthfully, it does not seem quite as good as I remember it but she sure looks as good as my mental image from those days gone by. She was just the least bit skinny but not enough to hurt.
See post #8.
I don’t think Gunn had a “leg.” I remember Lola Alright. She wore those Mamie Van Doren traffic cone bras.
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