Here are eight things you should know about Mary Tyler Moore, an icon for female actors throughout her life.
Trailblazer Mary Tyler Moore turned the world on with her megawatt smile during the 1960s and 1970s as she starred in the iconic "Dick Van Dyke" and "Mary Tyler Moore" shows.
She came to define a bolder generation of women, not only on screen but off, too, as she co-founded MTM Enterprises, which produced the "Mary Tyler Moore Show," "WKRP in Cincinnati," "Rhoda," "Hill Street Blues" and countless other classics.
Moore died in 2017 at the age of 80 of complications from diabetes, having been diagnosed in her 30s. She was in the prime of her career, starring in movies like the 1980 Oscar-winning "Ordinary People."
With so much talent and success, perhaps her most challenging and enduring role came the last few decades of her life as someone having Type 1 diabetes. She became a national advocate for it as she helped to raise awareness and research dollars for a cure, and inspire others struggling with the disease.
"In her time as JDRF's (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's) International Chairman (1985-2017), Mary helped raise over $2 billion for direct funding of research and, through her leadership (and mine) of their government relations/advocacy efforts, many billions more for dedicated T1D research (and parallel funding for Native American diabetes education and care), as well," said Dr. S. Robert Levine, her husband.
Her legacy continues as Levine started the Mary Tyler Moore Vision Initiative a year after her death to help end blindness for those living with diabetes.
Diabetes took its toll on Moore in numerous ways but it was slowly losing her sight that proved most devastating.
"When she was 40, she appeared in a CBS TV special, "Mary's Incredible Dream," in which she danced a brilliant pas de deux with Ben Vereen. ... A short eight-years later, she could barely walk across a ballroom, safely, without assistance. Diabetes stole her autonomy and her joy, because it stole her vision," Levine said.
There's no doubt Moore's celebrity and determination, in partnership with Levine's medical know-how, and fundraising prowess, proved a powerful combo.
"Her (Mary's) commitment to the effort to provide the best treatments possible, on the way to finding a cure, of course, was instrumental in giving the disease a national presence, resulting in essential research funding from the National Institute of Health," said Cynthia Ford, wife of Edsel Ford II, great grandson of Henry Ford. The metro Detroit couple's youngest son, now 32, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of 4. He benefitted from the efforts of JDRF, now known as Breakthrough T1D, Cynthia Ford said.
"Her appearance at hearings in Washington and her relationships with members of Congress were invaluable to securing research dollars," Ford added about Moore. "All of this was done with the loving support of her husband, who was and continues to be committed to improving the lives of those living with diabetes."
Levine told me the Fords, along with Ford Motor Co., have been "extraordinary leaders in the search for cures for T1D" efforts and fundraising.
More Michigan connections
The Mary Tyler Moore Vision Initiative continues to grow and evolve as it just launched its first public service campaign, with a spot narrated by actor Kevin Kline and includes remarks from Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Oprah Winfrey and Reese Witherspoon. It was created to educate the public on the need for medical research toward the cure of diabetic retinal disease, which is the technical name of the disease tied to diabetes that afflicted Moore.
The Mary Tyler Moore Vision Initiative, in partnership with the University of Michigan and the Joslin Diabetes Center, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, has organized a global collaboration of experts to join the fight against vision loss from diabetes. They, along with over 150 experts from across the world, will gather at the Third Annual Fall Symposium on Curing Vision Loss from Diabetes in Ypsilanti, starting on Nov. 11.
Key research programs of MTM Vision are housed at the U-M Caswell Diabetes Institute and the U-M Kellogg Eye Center, each led by U-M faculty members. The Mary Tyler Moore Vision Initiative chose U-M as a primary partner because of the strengths of its research and patient programs in both diabetes and eye disease, Levine said.
He was inspired to find a cure so others wouldn't have to suffer. Diabetic retinal disease is the leading cause of blindness in adults affecting millions, Levine said, adding, "Yet, we do not know what we must do to prevent and cure it."
He's going to keep pushing the pedal to the floor on his efforts until a cure is found.
I asked what his wife might say about it: "I think she would be gratified that I have chosen to honor her contributions to diabetes research and awareness by continuing to lead in creating a path to cures and dedicating myself to making her dream of a world without vision loss from diabetes a reality."
No doubt it would elicit a smile from the woman who blazed so many trails but none as lasting as the one she lit so others in need could have a healthier life.