The Truth About Mary Tyler Moore and Dick Van Dyke’s Relationship

THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW, Mary Tyler Moore, Dick Van Dyke, 1961-66 — Everett Collection

Everett Collection

When you talk about two actors having chemistry on screen, I really can’t think of a better relationship than Mary Tyler Moore and Dick Van Dyke. Growing up, I absolutely loved watching The Dick Van Dyke Show. I was a bit too young to catch it when it originally aired for five seasons on CBS during the sixties, but in the seventies, this show seemed to always be on one of the three channels we had in our area.

There was a lot to love about The Dick Van Dyke Show, which was nearly canceled at the end of the first season due to low ratings. The entire cast, along with Mary and Dick, were great. There was Rose Marie, Morey Amsterdam, and Richard Deacon, and they were all a hoot. I should devote an entire article to the genius of Carl Reiner. The show was just so well done, but if I had to credit one thing for its enduring appeal, I would have to say it was Mary and Dick.

Back when I was watching reruns in the mid-seventies, I really thought that they were a couple. They were just so darn believable. When Rob looked Laura in the eyes and said, “I love you,” I believed it. It turns out, there’s a reason why I felt that way, why I believed that these two people were truly in love, and that’s because they absolutely were.

THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW, from left: Mary Tyler Moore, Dick Van Dyke, 1961-66/

TV Guide/Courtesy Everett Collection

The truth about Mary and Dick’s relationship is that they definitely had feelings for each other. We know that because they confessed to the world about their love, way back in 1999, when they appeared together on CNN’s Larry King Live.

According to Mary, there was a tremendous amount of romantic chemistry under the surface between these two actors. She went on to say that anyone who happened onto the set during rehearsals would have noticed it. Mary said it was evidenced by all the giggling that went on between them.

In the same interview, Dick was equally blunt and said that he “had a crush” on Mary. However, they were both quick to point out that they never acted on those feelings because, at the time, they were in committed relationships of their own with other people.

THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW, from left: Dick Van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore, 1961-66/TV Guide/Courtesy Everett Collection

Credit: TV Guide/Everett Collection

Talking with Beth Harris of the Associated Press in 2004, Mary said this about her time on the show working with Dick: “You can’t but help love that man for the talent he has. He was so good to me when I was just testing my comedic wings.”

Dick remembered his costar on a segment of CBS This Morning after Moore’s passing in 2017, saying that “the chemistry that happened between us was just serendipity — we became an improv group, we could almost read each other’s mind. It was as Morey Amsterdam said, ‘It was like going to a party every morning.’”