HOLLYWOOD—Movie star and TV actress Mary Tyler Moore died on Wednesday, January 25 at the age of 80 in a hospital in Connecticut with her husband Dr. Robert Levine and friends by her side. TMZ first reported the news of the Moore’s condition reporting that a source informed them that the actress had been on a respirator for more than a week.
Moore born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1936, but moved to Los Angeles with her family when she was 8 years-old. She grew to fame in 1961 after being cast on “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” alongside actor Dick Van Dyke. The actress later parlayed that success into her own series “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” in the 1970s. The show ran from 1970-1977. Her portrayal inspired many women across the country.
Moore went on to win 7 Emmy awards, a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama for “Ordinary People.” Moore was nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award for her role in “Ordinary People.” The actress battled Type I diabetes in her 30s. She suffered from alcoholism, and had brain surgery in 2011 to remove a benign meningioma.
She was married 3 times during her lifetime, to Dick Meeker in 1955, Grant Tinker in 1962 and Robert Levine, who died in 1993. Her only son Richard Meeker Jr., was killed in 1980 after an accidental selt-inflicted gunshot at the age of 24.
Moore received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1992. A life-size bronze statue went on display in Minneapolis in 2002, depicting her tossing her famous tam into the air as she did in the opening credits of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.”
“I think Mary Tyler Moore has probably had more influence on my career than any other single person or force,” Oprah Winfrey said in a recent PBS documentary celebrating the actress.
Moore recently appeared in “Hot in Cleveland “with her “Mary Tyler Moore Show” co-stars Betty White and Valerie Harper. Moore was vocal about animal rights and co-founded an annual animal charity event called Broadway Barks with Bernadette Peters in 1999.
“I would like to be remembered as somebody who made a difference in the lives of animals,” she said in a 1997 interview for the Archive of American television.
Celebrities took to Twitter to share condolences in response to the Moore’s passing. Ellen DeGeneres tweeted, “Mary Tyler Moore changed the world for all women. I send my love to her family.”
Oprah Winfrey tweeted, “Even now looking at this picture I want to cry. I still can’t believe Mary Tyler Moore touched my face. Will love her 4 ever.”
“Mary Tyler Moore was a once-in-a-generation talent,” said CBS Chairman and CEO Les Moonves in a statement. “She will be long remembered as a gifted actress, television pioneer and a role model to so many. CBS has lost one of the very best to ever grace our airwaves and our industry has lost a true legend and friend.”
Written By Arjun Balasundaram and Casey Jacobs
