That fact of her son’s suicide may be the reason why I haven’t seen Mary T. Moore really smile in decades. She had a naturally big and beautiful smile. That inner mirth has not been seen by me since the Carter Administration.
I recall Mary being onstage about 10 years ago standing next to the older Dick Van Dyck. Dick was his usual jovial hyperactive self, while Mary was stiff, expressionless and perfunctory. A striking contrast.
Add to that, her severe diabetes, I’m surprised she has lasted even this long. So different than the actress who played ‘Rhoda’. That actress held a big press conference last spring, saying she was dying of cancer. That cancer has now gone into remission.
Some folks are content to experience their lives more privately than others. Two different, very talented women.
Her son did not commit suicide, he accidentally shot himself in the head while cleaning his gun.