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Mary Tyler Moore was nervous before her audition for ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' because she had a crush on Carl Reiner
Alan Brady? More like Alan Lady-Killer.
Interacting with a crush is always nerve-wracking because there's always an opportunity to embarrass yourself. When you're talking to someone you think highly of it seems like more often than not, your foot finds its way into your mouth. No matter how suave and confident you may believe yourself to be, everyone has to deal with some nervousness before approaching someone you admire.
You might be pleased to know that stars are not exempt from this feeling, even Mary Tyler Moore. While Moore was as talented as she was beautiful, she still dealt with these same anxieties that plague us mere mortals.
However, Moore's crush was not the captain of the football team or a leading man in the latest romantic film, it was none other than Carl Reiner, creator of The Dick Van Dyke Show.
Originally, Moore had been reluctant to even accept when she was offered the chance to audition for Reiner. Not because of nerves, but rather, disappointment. She had previously had a string of bad luck with auditions and had already lost so many roles.
In her memoir, After All, Moore wrote that upon getting the offer to audition, "I had a brief moment of recognition: this was mine, and it had come for me. But what I heard myself saying was, 'I just can't take another rejection, especially not this one." Luckily, Moore had a friend beside her who convinced her to take the audition.
Moore wrote, "On the way to the studio, I tried to imagine how I was going to maintain any adult, wifely composure while reading the script with the author himself, Carl Reiner. On Your Show of Shows, he may have been Sid Caesar's straight man, but to me, he was the closest thing to a sex symbol since my crush on Jerry Lewis."
Luckily, Moore's nerves didn't deter her too much, and her talent was enough to wow Reiner himself into casting her on the series.
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7 Comments
Carl had to talk to her. Rose said the first time she met Mary Tyler Moore, Mary said, “Hi my name is Mary Tyler Moore and I’m going to have own production company.”
It's not unusual that beauties fall in love with great artists of whatever sort, and Carl was a
towering talent.
Have you ever seen Sophia Loren's late director husband Carlo? He may have looked like a
cross between Danny DeVito and a Munchkin but they were together 40 years.
Don Knotts cut a swath thru Hollywood, a good sense of humor can also take you a long way.
If someone makes you happy, you could be as handsome as Hugh Jackman, who married
a 12 years older woman whose looks are maybe average, and it doesn't matter, they have
a great marriage.
