Celebrities React to the Death of Mary Tyler Moore

Yahoo Celebrity Staff
Mary Tyler Moore in 2008. (Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Mary Tyler Moore in 2008. (Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Mary Tyler Moore, who played the ultimate career girl in her eponymous television show and was Hollywood’s girl next door, died on Wednesday at the age of 80 — and Hollywood is already feeling the loss.

Celebrities have been posting tributes to the TV icon from The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Dick Van Dyke Show, who passed away at a Connecticut hospital after being on a respirator for more than a week. (Moore had battled diabetes since her 30s and underwent brain surgery in 2011.)

Robert Redford, who worked with Moore on Ordinary People, for which she was nominated for an Oscar, released the following statement: “Mary’s energy, spirit and talent created a new bright spot in the television landscape and she will be very much missed. The courage she displayed in taking on a role, (‘Ordinary People’), darker than anything she had ever done, was brave and enormously powerful.”

Related: Watch Mary Tyler Moore in Scenes From Her Two Greatest Movie Performances

Timothy Hutton, who played her son in the 1980 film that won the Academy Award for Best Picture, said in a statement, “I will always be grateful for her kindness and thankful beyond words for knowing her. She will be missed greatly.”

Timothy Hutton and Mary Tyler Moore in “Ordinary People.” (Photo: Everett)
Timothy Hutton and Mary Tyler Moore in “Ordinary People.” (Photo: Everett)

Her on-screen husband in Ordinary People, Donald Sutherland, had this to say: “Mary was and is and now always will be, perfect. She was the perfect actor to work with, the performance she gave was perfect, painfully perfect, and the friendship she offered was perfect. I am in her thrall.”

Gavin MacLeod, who played Moore’s pal Murray Slaughter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, also released a statement. “A line from our theme song was ‘Love is all around,’ and that’s what it was for five days a week for seven years straight on the Mary Tyler Moore set,” he wrote. “It was all because of Mary! She was professional; she was extremely creative with a terrific sense of humor and a gifted actress. She set a pace for all of us to follow. It goes with out saying what a wonderful loving and caring person she was to everyone who worked on the show,” he continued. “Mary was America’s sweetheart and she was mine also. I was the luckiest guy in the world just sitting next to her and looking at her beautiful face … and legs!” He concluded, “Today, ‘sadness is all around’ for all of us and I will miss Mary…deeply.”

Here are some other notable tributes to the actress…

Dear Mary, You already know how you majorly influenced my life and career. I respected and admired your business acumen, your passion and compassion for all life, and most importantly, the values espoused through your storytelling. Thank you for being a Light that shined so brightly, it let me see myself in you.

A photo posted by Oprah (@oprah) on Jan 25, 2017 at 3:24pm PST

What an angel. Always was and will be. A great part of my childhood and so many people's lives. #restinpeace #marytylermoore #strongwoman

A photo posted by Selma Blair (@therealselmablair) on Jan 25, 2017 at 11:50am PST