RIP, America's sitcom queen

Mary Tyler Moore dies at 80

Mary Tyler Moore has died at the age of 80.

She defined the sitcom in the 1960s and 1970s with The Dick Van Dyke Show and the eponymous The Mary Tyler Moore Show in the 1970s.

Carl Reiner cast her in The Dick Van Dyke Show in 1961, playing Van Dyke's perky suburban wife; and in 1970, Moore and her real husband Grant Tinker successfully pitched a sitcom based on Moore to CBS.

The Mary Tyler Moore Show, which ran until 1977, was set between her home life and her job in newsroom. It featured Ed Asner as her gruff boss Lou Grant, a character that would later be spun off into an hour-long drama series. Asner said tonight: 'A great lady I loved and owe so much to has left us. I will miss her. I will never be able to repay her for the blessings that she gave me.'

During its seven seasons, the program held the record for winning the most Emmys – 29. That record remained unbroken until 2002 when the NBC sitcom Frasier won its 30th award. Moore was also nominated for a best actress Oscar in 1980 for the film Ordinary People.

Moore believed the success of her character, who set the mould for independent women on TV, was because 'she represents an indomitable spirit — that she believes, as everyone can, in possibilities'.

Also paying tribute were Carol Burnett, who said: 'She will be so missed. She was a pioneer on television and also one of the sweetest, nicest people I ever knew.'

And Star Trek's George Takei made a reference to the Mary Tyler Moore show's opening theme tune when he tweeted: 'She turned the world on with her smile. RIP, Mary Tyler Moore. You were a role model in so many ways.'

Her publicist Mara Buxbaum released a statement sayingL '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.

'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.'

Here's how the sitcom ended: