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Actress Mary Tyler Moore passed away Wednesday, according to a statement by her publicist. One source told TMZ that Moore had been on a respirator for more than a week. Similarly, TMZ also reported that the actress’ condition was “so grim” this past week that family members went to the hospital to “say goodbye.”
Moore’s death was caused by cardiopulmonary arrest after she had contracted pneumonia. She was 80 years old and had battled diabetes for decades.
“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,” her publicist Mara Buxbaum said.
Moore was first diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 33, around the launch of her legendary show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show. The Mary Tyler Moore Show was about an independent young woman working in a Minneapolis TV newsroom. Moore was known for her television role in The Dick Van Dyke Show. Moore also made several guest appearances in a variety of shows including Johnny Staccato, Bachelor Father, The Tab Hunter Show, 77 Sunset Strip, Surfside 6, Hawaiian Eye and Lock-Up.
Moore made her film debut in X-15 and was nominated for an Oscar in 1980 for her role in the film Ordinary People.
Moore acknowledged that she was a recovering alcoholic and wrote about it in her first two memoirs. Moore also became a spokeswoman for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and served as an activist for animal rights. As a long-time animal rights activist, Moore worked with Farm Sanctuary to raise awareness about the process involved in factory farming and to promote compassionate treatment of farm animals.
In 2011, Moore was awarded the Screen Actors Guild’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
How Did Mary Tyler Die?
Moore’s death was caused by cardiopulmonary arrest after she had contracted pneumonia.
Who Was Mary Tyler Moore?
Mary Tyler Moore (December 29, 1936-January 25, 2017) was an American actress, best known for her roles in the television sitcoms The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970-1977), in which she starred as Mary Richards, a thirty-something single woman who worked as a local news producer inMinneapolis; and The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961-1966), in which she played Laura Petrie, a former dancer turned Westchester homemaker, wife, and mother.
Moore was born on December 29, 1936, in Brooklyn, New York. Her family moved from New York to Los Angeles when she was eight-years-old. The eldest of three children, Moore was raised Catholic and attended a Catholic high school, where she graduated in 1955. Soon after, her only child, Richard, however, he died of an accidental gunshot to the head on October 14, 1980.
Moore’s notable film work includes 1967’s Thoroughly Modern Millie and 1980’s Ordinary People, in which she played a role that was very different from the television characters she had portrayed, and for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress.
