Mary Tyler Moore
Actress Mary Tyler Moore at the 53rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards at The Shubert Theater Nov. 4, 2001 in Los Angeles. She died at the age of 80 after she suffered from Type 1 diabetes for decades. Getty Image

Iconic television actress Mary Tyler Moore died in a Connecticut hospital Wednesday surrounded by her family and friends. She was 80 years old.

Her longtime publicist, Mara Buxbaum, issued a statement to TMZ Wednesday after the star’s sad death. “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,” it said. “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.”

A cause of death was not immediately known. Moore was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes her last year on “The Dick Van Dyke Show.” The ailment didn’t stop her career. She ultimately went to star on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” which earned 29 Emmys. She warmed the nation’s heart with her portrayal of Mary Richards, a plucky newswoman from Minneapolis. The scene where she throws her blue tam into the air at the end of the opening credits was so iconic that a bronze statue was erected in her character's honor in Minneapolis in 2001.

Moore was nominated for an Oscar for her portrayal as a bitter mother who deals with the accidental death of her older son in “Ordinary People.” Through her television career, she was awarded 7 Emmys.

Moore was on a respirator for more than a week before her death, TMZ reported. She was taken off life support Tuesday and died the following day.

The actress was inducted to the Television Hall of Fame in 1986. The last time she appeared on television was when she played Diane on the Betty White series “Hot in Cleveland” from 2011 to 2013. She stared in more than 10 feature films and wrote two memoirs.

Her son, Richard, who she had from her first marriage to Richard Meeker, died in 1980 from an accidental gunshot. She is survived by her third husband, Richard Levine.

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