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But privately, the gifted actress desired a partner who simply protected and cared for her, as revealed in the HBO documentaryBeing Mary Tyler Moore. Aftertwo failed marriages, she found that in her third husbandRobert Levine, a cardiologist who once examined the star’s ailing mother at Mount Sinai Hospital and unexpectedly connected with Moore.
When Levine asked the actress to call if there were other issues with her mother, Moore replied, “Is acute loneliness a good enough reason to call you?” Said Levine, “I can’t think of a better reason to be awakened at 3 a.m.”
Thecouple eventually wedat Manhattan’s Pierre Hotel on Thanksgiving Eve in 1983, at Moore’s suggestion. During her bridal shower, she shared with her friends, which includedBetty White, a story of how Levine made her a tuna sandwich when she was hungry one night.
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“It was the most loving thing that anybody had ever done for me ever before in my life,” Moore said. “I’ve been given jewels. I’ve been given a lot of things that we all think are obviously of value.”
But all those gifts and baubles held little value for the actress, compared to “that tuna fish sandwich that was for nothing, from someone who gave itonlyto me.”
For more on Mary Tyler Moore, pick up this week’s issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.
Moore and Levine’s romance lasted more than 33 years and endured through herfinal days, long after successes likeThe Dick Van Dyke ShowandThe Mary Tyler Moore Showwent off the air and late-career projects that included memorable turns in films likeOrdinary PeopleandStolen Babies.
Reflecting on his time with the legend, Levine described their love story as “magic.”
source: people.com
