Legendary actress Mary Tyler Moore, who delighted a generation of Americans with her energetic comic performances and broke barriers with her iconic portrayal of a single career woman, died Wednesday after years of ill health. She was 80.
Moore's eponymous sitcom - set in Minneapolis - ran for seven seasons in the 1970s and was named by Time Magazine as one of 17 shows that "changed television."
She died in hospital in Connecticut, according to media reports, after battling diabetes for years and undergoing brain surgery in 2011. "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 long-time representative Mara Buxbaum told AFP in a statement.
"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's first big break came in 1961, when she played spunky stay-at-home wife Laura Petrie on "The Dick Van Dyke Show."