By: Nahomi Sanchez
Mary Tyler Moore, a beloved actress, has passed away at 80 on January 25, 2017. Mary Tyler Moore was an inspirational actress during her time. Born in Brooklyn Heights on December 29, 1936 she lived with her mother and father, and 3 siblings.
Wanting to pursue a career in acting at a young age, she acted in many small roles until she got her big break on The Dick Van Dyke show playing Laura Petrie, a role she held until the show’s end in 1966. She later received a starring role in her own show The Mary Tyler Moore Show where she played Mary Richards, a “spunky” woman who moves to Minneapolis to become an associate producer at an evening news station, a role which would inspire many women. Watching a woman in her 30’s, without a husband, encouraged many women and motivated them to make a life for themselves, instead of placing all of their focus on being a wife and mother.
During her time acting, she won 7 Emmy awards and 1 Oscar nomination for Ordinary People in 1981.
Her life may have seemed glamorous but it wasn’t perfect. Her sister died at the young age of 21 from a drug overdose, and her brother passed at 47 as a result of kidney failure. She was divorced twice and had one son, Richard Meeker. Unfortunately, her only son was killed in an accidental shooting at the age of 24. Moore also struggled with alcoholism and suffered from diabetes which caused her vision to worsen, and she began to break bones easily. After being diagnosed, she decided to become a spokesperson for Diabetes research and was involved with many charities, even writing two memoirs about it.
Moore’s last appearance was on an episode of Hot in Cleveland where she guest starred along with her former co-stars from The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Betty White, Valerie Harper, Georgia Engel and Cloris Leachman. Mary Tyler Moore was a beloved actress in her time and will be deeply missed by many.
To learn more about diabetes research and the cause Mary was so passionate about visit https://mooreforever.org/