She could turn the world on with her smile.The actress who introduced the world to the idea of the modern woman — and Minneapolis — died Wednesday, Jan. 25 in Connecticut, according to her publicist. She was 80.
“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,” Mara Buxbaum said in a statement.
Moore, a dancer who grew into stardom starting with her role as Laurie Petrie in The Dick Van Dyke Show, graduated from that to Mary Tyler Moore. She spent her life in show business, going on to produce shows like The Bob Newhart Show, Rhoda and Lou Grant.
Moore also worked tirelessly as an animal rights activist. In 2002, she told the LA-based Pet Press she first fought for animals — literally — as a schoolchild.
“I was coming home from school and I saw a man had cornered a dog and was beating him with a stick. I yelled at him to stop but he wouldn’t, so I just dropped my schoolbooks and ran and jumped him and beat him around the head and shoulders and kicked him with my feet,” she said.
As a Type One diabetic, Moore advocated for stem cell research.
Moore also had an active social media presence; her final Tweet, on Jan. 15, was a retweet of George Takei's Tweet to President-elect (at the time) Trump.
We couldn't miss her more.
