Mary Tyler Moore will be remembered with a smile – just like Chuckles the Clown — Tuesday, Feb. 21, at 7 p.m. in the Eisenhower Recreation Center.
Moore, 80, died on Jan. 25, and she was a pioneering force in television.
That’s why the Villages TV Nostalgia Club, headed by Stu Sachs, will hold a tribute to her. It features Moore in a couple of classic television shows from different stages of her long career.
The first is “Chuckles Bites the Dust,” one of the most memorable shows in sitcom history. It was first seen on the “Mary Tyler Moore Show” in Oct. 1975 and became an instant classic.
The plot features Mary and her co-workers at a memorial service for Chuckles the Clown. As the pastor praises Chuckles’ ability to make people smile, Mary does all she can to stop from bursting out in laughter. This all leads to a touching conclusion.
The second feature is a 1960 episode of the Western, “Wanted: Dead or Alive” starring Steve McQueen. The youthful Moore plays a dance hall girl called Sophie Anderson.
That episode was filmed about a year before Moore debuted in her classic role as Laura Petrie on “The Dick Van Dyke Show.”
