Mary Tyler Moore

Mary Tyler Moore (December 29, 1936 – January 25, 2017) was an American actress, producer, and social advocate. She gained widespread recognition for her television roles on The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961–1966) and The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970–1977), which helped define a new vision of American womanhood. Throughout her career, she won seven Primetime Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and two Tony Awards, alongside an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.

Moore was born in the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood of New York City to Marjorie and George Tyler Moore, a clerk. Raised Catholic in an Irish Catholic family alongside a younger brother and sister, she spent her early childhood in Flatbush and Queens. The family relocated to Los Angeles, California, in 1945 when she was eight years old. There, Moore attended Saint Ambrose School and Immaculate Heart High School in Los Feliz. Her parents were both alcoholics, and her siblings were sometimes placed in the care of relatives.

Moore began her television career in 1955 playing "Happy Hotpoint," a dancing elf in TV commercials for Hotpoint appliances. She later worked as an uncredited photographic model for record covers and landed her first regular television role as 'Sam' in Richard Diamond, Private Detective. After several guest roles on television series, her breakthrough came in 1961 when Carl Reiner cast her as Laura Petrie in The Dick Van Dyke Show. Her energetic comedic performance earned her international fame and her first Emmy Award.

In 1970, Moore and her husband Grant Tinker pitched The Mary Tyler Moore Show to CBS. The half-hour newsroom sitcom portrayed an independent single working woman whose life focused on her career. The series spent six years in the top 20 ratings and won 29 Emmys, with Moore winning three awards for Best Lead Actress in a Comedy. Moore later starred in variety specials, several short-lived series including Mary and New York News, and made guest appearances on shows such as Ellen, That '70s Show, and Hot in Cleveland.

Moore also built a career in film, theater, and television movies. She starred in films such as Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967), Change of Habit (1969), and Flirting with Disaster (1996). Her dramatic role in Ordinary People (1980) earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. On Broadway, she starred in Whose Life Is It Anyway? and Sweet Sue, while her production company produced five plays in the 1980s. She also appeared in numerous television films, winning an Emmy Award for Stolen Babies (1993).

In addition to her performing career, Moore was an advocate for animal rights and vegetarianism. After being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at age 33, she became a significant contributor to causes for diabetes awareness and research. Moore also published memoirs detailing her life and experiences, including After All in 1995.