Actress Mary Tyler Moore has died, The Associated Press reported, citing her publicist. She was 80 years old.
Mara Buxbaum, Moore's longtime publicist, issued the following statement:
Today beloved icon Mary Tyler Moore passed away at the age of 80 in the company of friends and her loving husband of over 33 years, Dr. S. Robert Levine. A groundbreaking actress, producer, and passionate advocate for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Mary will be remembered as a fearless visionary who turned the world on with her smile.
Moore was born Dec. 29, 1936, in Brooklyn, New York, as the oldest of three children. She and her family moved from New York to Los Angeles when she was 8 years old.
In Los Angeles, Moore's entertainment career began with spots as a dancer in various commercials throughout the '50s, and had her first television role in 1959 in "Richard Diamond, Private Detective," playing Sam, a secretary whose face was never seen but legs were.
By the 1960s, Moore landed a role on "The Dick Van Dyke Show," playing Laura Petrie and winning two Emmys for her work.
By 1970, she landed her own show, playing career woman Mary Richards on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." The show won 29 Emmy Awards and three Golden Globes. The show was produced by her own production company, MTM Enterprises, which she started with second husband, Grant Tinker. The show ended in 1977.
Moore moved into Broadway into the 1980s, winning the Special Tony Award for "Whose Life Is It Anyway?"
Moore was married three times, first to Ricard Meeker in 1955, with whom she had a son, named, Ricard in 1956. Moore married Tinker in 1962, a year after divorcing Meeker. They divorced in 1981. Her only child, Ricard, died from an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound in 1980.
A year after marrying Robert Levine, Moore checked into the Betty Ford Clinic for treatment alcoholism, a disease with which her mother also struggled.
Diagnosed with diabetes at 33, she became international advocate for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Her battle with diabetes left her with health complications, and she lost most of her eyesight as a result.
In 2011, the actress underwent surgery to remove a tumor from her brain.
Moore was also an animal advocate, partnering with actress Bernadette Peters to found Broadway Barks in 1999 and doing activist work with Farm Sanctuary, which promotes vegan living.
Moore is survived by her husband.
Cox Media Group
