She could turn the world on with her smile. But, for the “real” Mary Tyler Moore — one of the biggest television stars of the 1970s — what lay beneath that smile? In his engrossing and incisive documentary “Being Mary Tyler Moore”, filmmaker James Adolphus (“Soul of a Nation”, “You Ain’t Got These”) presents a three-dimensional portrait of MTM, placing her in cultural context and illustrating what made her such a singular talent.

Joining Ken on the podcast, James describes his unexpected and thorough approach to the topic and how, eventually, Mary completely won him over. How is it that someone who had never seen a minute of the “Dick Van Dyke Show”, “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” or the film “Ordinary People” came to direct this project? In what ways did Mary’s appearance on “The David Susskind Show” and in an interview with Rona Barrett illuminate both how Mary was perceived and how she asserted herself? And how did Mary’s final marriage with Dr. Robert Levine prove to be a truly liberating love story?

“Being Mary Tyler Moore”, which is nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special, is available for streaming on Max.

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