Born in Flatbush, Brooklyn, NY. Sparkling TV comedienne who made only occasional excursions into features. Trained as a dancer, she was first seen by television audiences singing and dancing atop appliances in Hotpoint commercials. Following appearances in several series, she hit the big time as the co-star of "The Dick Van Dyke Show" (1961-66), through which she earned great popularity and two Emmy® Awards. She then went on to reach the peak of her success with "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" (1970-77), gaining three more Emmys and a special award (in 1974) as Series Actress of the Year. Following several indifferent roles in films, she was nominated for an Academy Award® for her strong performance in Robert Redford's ORDINARY PEOPLE (1980), the story of a family coming to grips with the accedental death of a young son. Ironically, Moore lost her own 24-year-old son to an accidental gunshot wound that same year. (Originally deemed suicide, the hair trigger on the gun went off; the gun was later removed from the market for that reason.) The eventful 1980 also brought her a Special Tony® Award for her performance on Broadway in Whose Life Is It Anyway? She was victorious at the 1992 Emmys for her supporting role as an amoral dealer of children in the TV movie "Stolen Babies." Other notable credits include THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE (1967), CHANGE OF HABIT (1969), SIX WEEKS (1982), JUST BETWEEN FRIENDS (1986), FLIRTING WITH DISASTER (1996), KEYS TO TULSA and RENO FINDS HER MOM (both 1997), LABOR PAINS (2000), CHEATS (2002) and AGAINST THE CURRENT (2007). In 1969, she founded MTM Enterprises with (ex-)husband Grant Tinker. They produced many memorable TV series, including "Lou Grant," "Hill Street Blues," "St. Elsewhere," "The Bob Newhart Show," and "WKRP in Cincinnati." They sold the company in 1990. A bronze statue capturing her character Mary's signature hat-toss went on display May 8, 2002 at the Minneapolis intersection where the scene for "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" was originally filmed. On hand for the ceremony, Moore tossed her tam, but this time, into an appreciative downtown crowd. In 1984 Moore entered the Betty Ford Center for treatment of a "social drinking" habit that was worsening her diabetic condition. Diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes (insulin dependent) in the 1970s, she testified before Congress (along with actors Kevin Kline and Jonathan Lipnicki and former astronaut James Lovell, commander of Apollo 13) calling for an increase in funding for diabetes research and support embryonic stem cell research, which she called "truly life affirming." Also present in the hearing room were about 200 children with diabetes and their families,who were in town for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International Children's Congress 2001. A vegetarian, she was the celebrity sponsor of the Great American Meatout in March, 2001. She is a strong animal rights activist. Her first husband (1955-61) was Dick Meeker. Moore's second husband (1962-81) was NBC-TV executive Grant Tinker. In 1983 she married Dr. Robert Levine, 15 years her junior.  Nominated for Actress 1980: ORDINARY PEOPLE 1 nomination