List of minor characters on The Mary Tyler Moore Show

The following is a list of minor characters regularly featured on The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

For the main characters, see the following pages: Ted Baxter • Lou Grant • Phyllis Lindstrom • Rhoda Morgenstern • Sue Ann Nivens • Mary Richards • Murray Slaughter

• Georgette Franklin was played by Georgia Engel. Georgette was the somewhat ditzy girlfriend (and later wife) of stentorian news anchor Ted Baxter (played by Ted Knight). Mary Tyler Moore described her as a cross between Stan Laurel and Marilyn Monroe.^[1] She and Mary got along fantastically, and she helped to somewhat fill the void that Phyllis Lindstrom and Rhoda left in Mary's life when they left for San Francisco and New York City, respectively.

She made her first appearance at one of Mary Richards' parties. She worked as a window dresser at Hempel's Department Store in Minneapolis, Minnesota along with Rhoda Morgenstern. Later, she worked for a car rental service, as a Golden Girl, and for Rhoda selling plants.

Georgette was devoted to Ted and they eventually marry in Mary Richards' apartment. They adopt a child named David (Robbie Rist), and later, she gives birth to a girl named Mary Lou, also in Mary's apartment.

• Edie Grant (née McKenzie) (Priscilla Morrill) was the wife of Lou Grant. She and Lou had been married for many years and had children, but during The Mary Tyler Moore Show's third season they separated and the marriage soon ended. In a later season, Edie was remarried to Howard Gordon, and asked Lou and Mary to attend her wedding. Lou held his peace and they parted friends. Even when Lou lived in Los Angeles, he and Edie kept in touch, because their grown daughters remained a common bond between them. In the Lou Grant series, Edie was revealed to be Roman Catholic and of Ukrainian heritage.

• Gordon Howard, better known as Gordy, was played by actor John Amos. Gordy was the weather reporter on the nightly WJM-TV newscast. Affable, intelligent and professional, Gordy was the polar opposite of Ted. In 1973, Gordy left WJM, and eventually got a job as host of a talk show in New York City. Ted thought this would be a great chance for him to become a national name, and wheedled Gordy to allow him to join him; but Gordy, although his friend, was also wise to his ways, and gently told him no. After that, Gordy returned to New York and reaped success.

The producers introduced Gordy as a weatherman because at the time they felt very few weathermen at the time were black. The original intention had been to make him a sportscaster, but they felt a weatherman would be funny.^{[citation needed]} In several early episodes the character of Gordy remarks, "Why does everyone think I'm the sportscaster?" Amos left the show to do Good Times.

• Bess Lindstrom was portrayed on both The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Phyllis by actress Lisa Gerritsen. Bess is the daughter and only child of Phyllis Lindstrom and her late husband, Lars. Bess helped her mother decorate the new apartment that Mary Richards moved into. She bonded well with Rhoda Morgenstern, to her mother's horror, calling her "Aunt Rhoda". She also bonded with Mary, who was an old friend of her mother's. She only referred to Phyllis by her first name rather than with a motherly endearment.

Bess was more prominently featured on the spin-off show, Phyllis. By this time, Bess was in high school. She and her mother moved to her mother's hometown, San Francisco, after her father died. While Bess's great-grandmother "Mother Dexter" despised Phyllis, she got along excellently with Bess. Near the end of the series, Bess married Mark Valenti (Craig Wasson), the nephew of Phyllis' boss, City Supervisor, Carmen Valenti, and were expecting a baby.

• Florence Meredith, best known as Aunt Flo (actually a distant older cousin of Mary Richards), was played on a recurring basis by actress Eileen Heckart. Flo was a pioneering female journalist who had worked all over the world. She made infrequent visits to Minneapolis and also battled Mary's boss, Lou Grant. Although, they clashed, there was a spark between them and they had a quick fling. After Lou moved to Los Angeles to work at the LA Tribune, Flo made a visit to him. She was the only other character from the Mary Tyler Moore Show to appear on the spinoff Lou Grant.

• Ida Morgenstern and Martin Morgenstern were portrayed on both The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Rhoda by veteran actors Nancy Walker and Harold Gould, respectively. They were the parents of Rhoda Morgenstern. Ida was portrayed as a stereotypical overbearing Jewish mother, whereas Martin was somewhat calmer and more even-keeled. While Rhoda was living in Minneapolis, Ida occasionally visited. When Rhoda moved back to New York, she initially stayed with her mother in the Bronx. During the run of Rhoda, Martin and Ida separated while Martin went off to find himself and pursue a long-shelved dream of becoming a lounge singer. Toward the end of Rhoda's run, Martin had returned and was attempting to win Ida back, though this remained unresolved when the series ended.

• Dottie and Walter Richards are Mary's parents. Dottie was played by veteran actress Nanette Fabray. Their first appearance was in 1972, two years after Mary had left her fiancé and moved to Minneapolis. They came by to see how Mary was doing and found her successful with an apartment and a job. They made a handful of appearances on the series.

• Marie Slaughter was played by actress Joyce Bulifant. Marie was the wife of news writer, Murray Slaughter, and a homemaker. She and Murray had four daughters, and adopted a Vietnamese son.

References

1. ^ "She Even Gets Laughs on Her Straight Lines", TV Guide, Dec. 1973.