The Other First Lady

Rob & Laura Get Married Again



In keeping with the spirit of "Who's Still Alive and With It" among those we Boomers remember from childhood, I've come across another shining example of a real pacesetter.

We Boomers who were in grade school in the Early 60's certainly remember the Kennedy Era- a young and growing family in the White House, an attractive, educated, fashionable, and spirited First Lady -remember the pics of Jackie Kennedy in a leg cast after a touch football scrimmage with the Kennedy Clan?

TV sitcoms were still the entertainment of the day, but they were already taking on a different character. TV couples were a lot more vivacious and starting to have challenges that Ward and June Cleaver never dreamed of! Just take a look at the above clip from The Dick Van Dyke Show, one of the most popular shows of the 60's. Rob & Laura (Mary Tyler Moore) Petrie are up against a real challenge here--having to get married all over again. But of course they come through with shining colors in true sitcom fashion.

How we did loved Laura, though! She was a perfect lady in Jackie Kennedy-styled tailored suit, pill box hat, pumps and all. She could get goofy, sing, dance, lose her temper, cry, however human she wanted to be, and never come across as a dizzy broad or a staid suburban housewife that was simply an appendage of her wise and wonderful husband. A few years later in the Early 70's, Mary Tyler Moore became the spirited, independent, single (not divorced from Rob, heaven forbid) professional, Mary Richards in her own show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Again, Mary was the Woman of the Day, facing life's challenges in an imperfect world that we were finally admitting is imperfect.

So what's The Other First Lady doing now? True to form, she's still active. In the past few years, Mary has been active in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Has testified before the Senate Committee of Governmental Affairs, coming out in favor of stem cell research. Mary herself put it best: "I'm not an actress who can create a character. I play me."

BRAVO! Mary, you know how to be a First Lady.

Mary Tyler Moore Show Reunion