TV Icon Mary Tyler Moore Dies at 80

She passed away in a Connecticut hospital.

Television and film icon Mary Tyler Moore has died at a Connecticut hospital, a rep for the actress has confirmed. She was 80.

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“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," her rep, Mara Buxbaum said in a statement to TMZ Wednesday. 

The statement went on: "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."

It has been reported that The Dick Van Dyke Show actress had been on a respirator for more than a week. Sources tell TMZ that the actress was surrounded by her family and friends as she passed.

She battled diabetes and underwent brain surgery in 2011.

Stage actress Bernadette Peters, who starred alongside Moore in the film The Last Best Year and founded the Broadway Barks charity with her, was among many friends paying tribute.

"She was a brilliant, sensitive iconic actor and a precious friend to me, Peters said in a statement. "There are no words to describe how I cherished our friendship. I will miss her dearly"

After The Dick Van Dyke Show, Moore became the star of her own sitcom, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, in the 1970s. In 1980, she was nominated for an Academy Award for her role in Ordinary People.

She founded "Broadway Barks" with actress Bernadette Peters and together, the duo hosted animal adoption events in New York City. On Wednesday, Peters paid tribute to her close friend with the message: "Rest in peace to our beloved Broadway Barks co-founder, Mary Tyler Moore, an extraordinary person and friend to the animals."

Other celebrities paid tribute on social media.

Mary Tyler Moore changed the world for all women. I send my love to her family.

— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) January 25, 2017

#MaryTylerMoore was a dear friend and a truly great person. A fighter. Rest in peace, MTM.

— Larry King (@kingsthings) January 25, 2017

She turned the world on with her smile. RIP, Mary Tyler Moore. You were a role model in so many ways.

— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) January 25, 2017

I throw my hat up in the air for you, Mary Tyler Moore. Loved her and her spirit. Rest in peace.

— Savannah Guthrie (@SavannahGuthrie) January 25, 2017

i never met mary tyler moore, but i loved her from afar - for her talent and, most importantly, for the trails she blazed for women.

— Harry Connick Jr (@HarryConnickJR) January 25, 2017

We are so saddened by the passing of our friend, Mary Tyler Moore. We will miss her & are grateful for her work to protect animals. ❤️️

— Humane Society (@HumaneSociety) January 25, 2017

Moore, a seven-time Emmy winner, was married three times. She had one son with husband Richard Carleton Meeker, Richie, who died in 1980 from an accidental gunshot wound when he was 24. She and Meeker were married from 1955 to 1961. 

In 1962, she married TV producer Grant Tinker. They divorced in 1981.

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Moore is survived by her current husband, Dr. Robert Levine, whom she married in 1983.

No cause of death has been revealed. 

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