Mary Tyler Moore – Her Life and Lifework

Mary Tyler Moore, now in her 70’s, is set to undergo surgery to remove a meningioma, a benign tumor that lines the tissue of the brain. 

“At the recommendation of her neurologist, who has been monitoring this for years, and a neurosurgeon, Mary decided to proceed with this fairly routine procedure,” says her rep.

Moore is known as one of America’s TV sweethearts and a pioneer actress.

In the ’60s she played Laura Petrie on the The Dick Van Dyke Show and exemplified TV’s first sexy citified housewife.  In the 70’s, Moore starred as  Mary Richards on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, revealing her ability to portray a “typical” single-over 30-career woman.

Robert Redford directed, “Ordinary People” in the 80’s and had Moore play the Academy-winning role of an icy mother in a family without feeling.  The grave story line found parallels with her own, as in 1980 her 24-year old son Richie, accidentally shot himself with a sawn-off shotgun.  The gun was later taken off the market due to its “hair trigger.”

In a People Magazine Archived Article, “Life Spirals Out Of Control For A Regular Family,” writers describe Moore as “A vanilla madonna. A wisp of WASP with merry brown eyes and a smile that lit up a continent. Leggy, sincere, capable, vulnerable…”

Moore has also been known for her charitable work.  In recent years she has lived with Type 1 Diabetes and gives toward diabetes awareness as well as animal rights, American Civil War studies and embryonic stem cell research.

On Thursday’s Rachael Ray Show, which was taped a week before, Moore made a surprise appearance while Ray interviewed her old-time costar, Dick Van Dyke.

Ray, Moore and Van Dyke enjoyed reminiscing about taping The Dick Van Dyke Show and how Moore was groundbreaking with her donning of pants on television and how fun it was to have Lucille Ball stop by their tapings to sneak a peak as her show taped at the studio next door.

The camaraderie between the old-time friends was evident as Van Dyke shared, “The five years with Mary on the ‘Van Dyke Show’ were the best five years of my life … it was like a party every day. It was the most creative and the most fun. I would still be doing it if they let me.”

“Me too!,” Mary affirmed.

There is no word yet on when the brain surgery is scheduled.

Watch Mary Tyler Moore’s first season intro here.

You will make it after all.