As a self-described “product of pop culture,” former first lady Michelle Obama once said during an August 2016 interview with Variety that she was inspired by Mary Tyler Moore, who passed away at the age of 80 on Wednesday, January 25.
The child obesity and female education activist — and not to mention first-ever black first lady — said it was Moore’s single, hardworking character Mary Richards on The Mary Tyler Moore Show who caught her eye at the age of 10 when she would watch TV with her family while eating dessert.
“She was one of the few single working women depicted on television at the time,” Obama told Variety while talking about Tyler Moore’s beloved stereotype-crushing ’70s sitcom. “She wasn’t married. She wasn’t looking to get married. At no point did the series end in a happy ending with her finding a husband — which seemed to be the course you had to take as a woman. But she sort of bucked that. She worked in a newsroom, she had a tough boss and she stood up to him. She had close friends, never bemoaning the fact that she was single. She was very proud and comfortable in that role. … I was probably 10 or 11 when I saw that, and sort of started thinking, You know what? Marriage is an option. Having a family is an option. And going to school and getting your education and building your career is another really viable option that can lead to happiness and fulfillment.”
Indeed, the late icon helped push boundaries and debunk stereotypes when she first landed the role in 1970. The show explored a variety of social issues, including sex and birth control, and as Obama pointed out, its lead character was an unwed, thirtysomething boss lady. In 1992, Entertainment Weekly dubbed Tyler Moore’s character “the first great grown-up single working woman on TV.”
Tyler Moore, who, like Obama, was an activist throughout her life, particularly pertaining to issues related to diabetes, died of cardiopulmonary arrest on Wednesday. “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,” her rep told Us in a statement. “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.”
The spunky actress, whose broad career also earned her an Oscar nomination for her role in 1980’s Ordinary People, had been hooked up to a respirator for more than a week prior to her death.
