As previously reported, Mary Tyler Moore died on Wednesday afternoon at the age of 80.
The legendary actress had been admitted to a Connecticut hospital last week and, according to TMZ sources, spent her final several days on a respirator.
She died with her husband of 33 years by her side.
While no cause of death has been determined as of this writing, People Magazine now confirms that Moore had been placed under doctor’s with pneumonia due to complications from her diabetes.
She was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 33 and dedicated a chunk of her life to educating the public about that disease.
In May of 2011, the beloved star underwent elective surgery to remove a benign tumor of the lining tissue of the brain.
“I do have problems with my eyes, one eye in particular, and if I fall, I generally break a bone,” she told The New York Times a few months after this procedure.
Friends have said that Moore’s health, specifically her eyesight, kidneys and heart, took a turn for the much worse in 2014.
Moore earned an Oscar nomination in 1980 for Best Actress for the film Ordinary People.
But she was best known and most influential for a pair of memorable television roles:
- Housewife and homemaker Laura Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show from 1961–66.
- Minnesota reporter Mary Richards on The Mary Tyler Moore Show from 1970–77.
She last acted on an episode of Hot in Cleveland in 2013.
For the past few years of her life, Moore took on advocacy roles for two causes close to her heart: animal rights and juvenile diabetes research.
Moore was honored with a lifetime achievement award at the Screen Actor’s Guilt Awards in 2012 and talked about how she used her father’s middle name for work because there were six mother Mary Moores belonging to the union when she started working.
She made her dad happy with that gesture, “and tonight,” she told the audience, “after having the privilege of working with the most creative and talented people imaginable, I, too, am happy, after all.”
CBS has scheduled a special titled Mary Tyler Moore: Love Is All Around for 9/8c tonight.
It will be anchored by Gayle King and it will will feature archival footage of Moore at work on The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Mary Tyler Moore Show, along with interviews with Oprah Winfrey and other admirers of Moore’s work.
In light of Moore’s passing, meanwhile, close friend and former colleague Dick Van Dyke paid tribute to the icon on Instagram.
There are no words. She was THE BEST!” he wrote. “We always said that we changed each other’s lives for the better.”
In addition to the message, Van Dyke included a link to a video of the on-screen couple performing “I’ve Got Your Number.
As you can see above, a slew of stars also honored Moore yesterday on social media.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter about Moore, Van Dyke added:
“I don’t know what made her comic timing so great. On Dick Van Dyke, we had Morey Amsterdam and Rose Marie, both of whom were old hams and had razor-sharp timing, and mine wasn’t bad either.
But Mary just picked it up so fast. She had us all laughing after a couple of episodes.
“She just grabbed onto the character and literally turned us into an improv group, it was so well-oiled. That show was the best five years of my life.”