Minnesotans like to think Mary Tyler Moore belongs just to us. But the love for the late actor is all around, far from her statue on Nicollet Mall.
It's nearly impossible not to feel a connection with at least one of her most memorable characters: Laura Petrie, the not-always-happy homemaker in "The Dick Van Dyke Show"; Mary Richards, the steadfast associate producer at a fictional Minneapolis TV studio where the glass ceiling seemed as high as the IDS Center's roof panels in "The Mary Tyler Moore Show"; Beth Jarrett, the suburban wife in "Ordinary People," who's more comfortable organizing golf outings than hugging her son.
Her universal appeal helps explain why "Being Mary Tyler Moore," a documentary premiering 7 p.m. Friday on HBO, was spearheaded by Emmy-winning writer Lena Waithe ("Master of None"), acclaimed producer Debra Martin Chase ("The Princess Diaries") and director James Adolphus ("Soul of a Nation"), three African Americans with little connection to the state that adopted her.
Adolphus, who was on hand for the film's screening at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival in April, chatted about how he came to the project and ended up discovering nuggets about the ultra-private Moore, which is bound to surprise even her longtime fans.
Q: How much did you know about Mary Tyler Moore before taking on this assignment?
A: The truth is, before I was invited by Lena, I didn't know much about Mary, other than her name. I knew she meant a lot to a lot of people, maybe someone my mom had watched on TV. But I have never seen a single episode of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" or "The Dick Van Dyke Show" or "Ordinary People." I knew she was a line in a Weezer song, so I figured she must be important.
Q: Why do you think Lena picked you, then?
A: I think there's a strength in being a non-fan. I could come at it objectively. I could see a woman's life without being colored by where I was in my own life when I was watching her TV shows.
