Beloved TV actress Mary Tyler Moore was rushed to a Connecticut hospital earlier today, where she passed away at the age of 80.
Moore's representative, Mara Buxbaum, released a statement to TMZ, which first broke the story. It read: "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 diagnosed with insulin-dependent diabetes at age 33. She had once been quoted as saying, "Diabetes is an all-too-personal time bomb which can go off today, tomorrow, next year, or 10 years from now - a time bomb affecting millions like me and the children here today." She released a book titled Growing Up Again: Life, Loves and, Oh Yeah, Diabetes in March 2009 and lobbied for more funding for diabetes research.
The TV icon first shot to fame with a starring role on The Dick Van Dyke Show, which ran from 1961 to 1966, and for her Emmy award-winning series The Mary Tyler Moore Show, which ran from 1970 to 1977. She is also a Golden Globe winner and an Oscar nominee for her work in the feature film Ordinary People (1980).
Moore was was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1986 and in 1992 was honored with a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard. ~Alexandra Heilbron
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