Mary Tyler Moore Married 15-Years-Younger Doctor She Called At 3 A.M. — He Still Feels Her Love 6 Years After Death
Mary Tyler Moore Married 15-Years-Younger Doctor She Called At 3 A.M. — He Still Feels Her Love 6 Years After Death Mary Tyler Moore’s husband has recently revealed their love story. Despite 15 years of age difference, he became her true love after losing her only son. He continues to honor her six years after…
Mary Tyler Moore Married 15-Years-Younger Doctor She Called At 3 A.M. — He Still Feels Her Love 6 Years After Death
- Mary Tyler Moore’s husband has recently revealed their love story.
- Despite 15 years of age difference, he became her true love after losing her only son.
- He continues to honor her six years after her death & still calls her “my Mary.”
Mary Tyler Moore was the star of her own show, “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” but she also starred in many other titles through the years. She had acting credits in “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” “Rhonda,” and “Ordinary People.”
Now, Moore’s husband has opened up about how they met and how he felt about their enduring love story. The couple shared a significant age gap but remained happily in love.
Mary Tyler Moore on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” on CBS in 1973 | Source: Getty Images
Moore passed away in 2017, but her husband keeps her memory alive all these years by talking about what they meant to one another and how their love developed with time.
Moore and her husband, Dr. Robert Levine, met by chance one day. He was fifteen years younger than her, but their relationship quickly blossomed into something beautiful.
Dr. Levine described their relationship as “easy” and said he knew on their first date that it would develop into something amazing over time. Although Moore had been married twice before, she said Dr. Levine was her first true love.
Dr. Robert Levine and Mary Tyler Moore attend the ‘Sweet Sue’ Opening Night Performance on January 8, 1987 at the Music Box Theatre in New York City | Source: Getty Images
Now, Dr. Levine is continuing his wife’s legacy by working with the Mary Tyler Moore Vision Initiative, which aims to find a cure for the complications associated with diabetes, of which Moore was a victim.
How Did Moore’s Love Story Happen?
A recently released documentary explores Moore’s life and her love story with her husband, who has given many interviews since the documentary premiered. The pair were married for three decades, but their love story started by chance.
Dr. Robert Levine talking about his love story with Mary Tyler Moore | Source: youtube.com/@HodaAndJenna
One night, Moore’s mother was ill and needed a doctor; Dr. Levine was on call. While Dr. Levine was taken by Moore, he didn’t view her as a star because he did not know how big her TV shows were.
When Dr. Levine was leaving her house, he told her if she needed anything, she should phone him. Moore asked if “acute loneliness” was a good enough reason to need him, and he said it was the best reason to call him at 3 a.m., which Moore did not long after.
Dr. Levine mentioned that he was in medical school then and focused not on watching TV on Saturday nights. Yet their relationship quickly became something special for each of them.
Mary Tyler Moore and Dr. Robert Levine in New York circa 1984 | Source: Getty Images
Although Moore was married twice before, she often confessed that Dr. Levine was her first true love. Dr. Levine admitted it felt like an honor for him that Moore thought of him in that way.
One of the moments in the documentary that showed the couple’s love for one another was footage of Moore’s bridal shower, where she talked about Dr. Levine making her a tuna fish sandwich.
Mary Tyler Moore and Dr. Robert Levine at the opening night of, ‘Minnelli on Minnelli,’ Palace Theater, New York City | Source: Getty Images
Moore found the sandwich so special because Dr. Levine had made it, especially for her, without any thought of himself. Moore considered Dr. Levine’s first act of real love. Dr. Levine had never seen that video before the documentary premiered, but he said:
“It’s the sort of thing where the person you love wakes up in the middle of the night and is hungry. Well, what do you do? You go to the kitchen; you make them something. And that was the moment she says she realized she loved me.”
Dr. Levine, one of the movie’s executive producers, rifled through hours of footage stored in the basement to be able to tell Moore’s story in the way she would have wanted it. He called her “my Mary” and said she was “still with [him] every day.”
Mary Tyler Moore and Dr. Robert Levine attend the American Screenwriters Associations’ “2002 Screenwriting Hall of Fame Awards” | Source: Getty Images
Talking about why they called the film “Being Mary Tyler Moore,” Dr. Levine said it was because anything Moore did, she did it authentically and was always unashamedly herself, which was revolutionary for that time.
What Adversity Did Moore Face?
While Moore and Dr. Levine shared many happy years, Moore faced her fair share of struggles in her professional and personal life. Her first blow came in 1980 when she learned her 24-year-old son had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. His death was ruled an accident.
Dr. Robert Levine and Mary Tyler Moore at the Third Annual Television Academy Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on March 23, 1986 | Source: Getty Images
Mary Tyler Moore on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” in 1977 | Source: Getty Images
Moore’s then-estranged husband, Grant Tinker, phoned Moore at 5 a.m. to tell her the heartbreaking news. He told her that if she was standing, she should sit down and then told her their son had passed away.
Moore’s son, Richie, was cremated, and the star spread his ashes in Owens River in California. Talking about that day, Moore shared:
“The water was clear and high as I knelt over it. I opened the container and emptied it into the rushing water. What was meant to be a prayer became an outraged demand. ‘You take care of him,’ I screamed at the sky.”
Mary Tyler Moore and her son, Richie, attend a Teach Foundation benefit in 1968 | Source: Getty Images
Mary Tyler Moore and Dr. Robert Levine at he Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International Honors Mary Tyler Moore on March 22, 1990 | Source: Getty Images
Before Moore died, she had been hospitalized with pneumonia, and doctors placed her on a ventilator. All of her illnesses in the days leading up to her death resulted from her diabetes. When she passed away, she was surrounded by family, friends, and Dr. Levine, who was her husband of 33 years then.
Moore suffered from childhood diabetes, and by the time she passed away, she had lost nearly all of her sight. She didn’t even recognize people who had come to see her and wished her well.
Apart from the physical challenges she endured, Moore also suffered from alcoholism. Yet her husband stood by her through everything and tried to convey what she meant to him in the documentary.
Mary Tyler Moore at Broadway Barks 14 at the Booth Theatre on July 14, 2012 in New York City | Source: Getty Images
Mary Tyler Moore and Dr. Robert Levine at the Broadway Opening Night Performance of ‘Follies’ at the Marquis Theatre in New York City | Source: Getty Images
He mentioned that he wanted people to see her importance and impact on the world. He also wanted to encourage people to be more like Moore in their own lives.
Dr. Levine acknowledged that his wife had never shied away from a challenge, and he felt that everyone should do the same. He also wanted people to stand up for themselves as Moore did.
Dr. Robert Levine at the Los Angeles premiere of HBO Documentary Films’ “Being Mary Tyler Moore” | Source: Getty Images
Although all her family and friends knew that she would be dying, when the moment came, they were still as shocked as if the death had come suddenly. Now, she is still remembered fondly by her husband and those close to her. She was an inspirational woman indeed.
