''Love, Mary'' is a 1985 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

based on the true story of Dr. Mary Groda-Lewis (portrayed by

Kristy McNichol Christina Ann McNichol (born September 11, 1962) is an American former actress. She is known for such film roles as Angel in ''Little Darlings'', Polly in '' Only When I Laugh'', and Barbara Weston in the TV sitcom ''Empty Nest''. She won two Emmy ...

) who achieved a career in family medicine despite a personal struggle with

dyslexia Dyslexia, also known until the 1960s as word blindness, is a disorder characterized by reading below the expected level for one's age. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, r ...

. The film originally aired on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

on 8 October 1985.

Plot

Mary Louise Groda was a lonely and poor child, from a family of poor farm workers in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

. She was in frequent trouble with juvenile authorities, partly because she hated to go to school. After a number of breaks from juvenile authorities, Mary's good luck ran out. She and another troubled male teen got caught while they were joy-riding with a stolen car that they crashed. That joy-ride and the subsequent crash were enough for the judge hearing Groda's case, who had no choice but to incarcerate Mary. A social worker took an interest in Mary, who was sixteen years of age by that time, and realized that she struggled with

. She then helped Mary excel in studies. Mary gained confidence and began to fight back against her impediment, eventually going to college, earning an M.D. degree. She chose the family practice of

pediatrics Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until th ...

as her medical specialty.

Cast

as Mary Groda-Lewis *

David Paymer David Emmanuel Paymer (born August 30, 1954) is an American actor, comedian, and television director. He has been in films such as ''Mr. Saturday Night'', ''Quiz Show'', ''Searching for Bobby Fischer'', ''City Slickers'', ''Crazy People'', ''St ...

as David Lewis *

Piper Laurie Piper Laurie (born Rosetta Jacobs; January 22, 1932) is an American actress. She is known for her roles in the films ''The Hustler'' (1961), '' Carrie'' (1976), and '' Children of a Lesser God'' (1986), all of which brought her Academy Award no ...

as Christine Groda *

Rachel Ticotin Rachel Ticotin Strauss is an American film and television actress. She has appeared in films such as '' Fort Apache, The Bronx''; '' Total Recall'', '' Falling Down'', and ''Con Air''. She has appeared in the NBC legal drama '' Law & Order: LA'' ...

as Rachel Martin *

Lycia Naff Lycia Naff (born August 29, 1962) is an American dancer, actress, and journalist. She is best known as an actress for a two-episode role as Ensign Sonya Gomez on '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' and for an appearance as a three-breasted prost ...

as Delia * Romy Windsor as Jeanine *

David Faustino David Anthony Faustino (; born March 3, 1974) is an American actor and radio personality primarily known for his role as Bud Bundy on the Fox sitcom '' Married... with Children''. He has also voiced animated characters for Nickelodeon, including ...

as Christopher

References

External links

TV Reviews: McNichol in 'MARY' on CBS
* {{Robert Day 1985 television films 1985 films 1985 drama films American films based on actual events Dyslexia in fiction Films directed by Robert Day CBS network films 1980s English-language films American drama television films 1980s American films

Plot

Cast

See also

References

External links