[30] Moore's first regular television role was as 'Sam' a mysterious and glamorous telephone switchboard operator/receptionist in the series Richard Diamond, Private Detective with David Janssen.

Sam's sultry voice was heard talking to Richard Diamond from her switchboard; however, only her legs and occasionally her hands appeared on camera -- never her face, adding to the character's mystique.

[31] After creating a minor sensation by appearing as Sam in 12 episodes of Richard Diamond as an uncredited player, Moore asked for a raise -- and was promptly fired by the show's producers and replaced by Roxane Brooks in the role.

However, Moore was able to parlay the publicity from 'revealing' Sam's identity to the press into several flattering articles and profiles, giving her career a boost.

The Mary Tyler Moore Show was a half-hour newsroom sitcom featuring Ed Asner as her gruff boss Lou Grant.

The Mary Tyler Moore Show bridged aspects of the Women's Movement with mainstream culture by portraying an amiable, independent woman whose life focused on her professional career rather than marriage and family.

[36][1] The show marked the first big hit for film and television producer James L. Brooks, who would also do more work for Moore and Tinker's production company.

[37] Moore's show proved so popular that three regular characters, Valerie Harper as Rhoda Morgenstern, Cloris Leachman as Phyllis Lindstrom, and Ed Asner as Lou Grant spun off into their own three separate series playing the same characters, albeit with Lou Grant being an hour-long drama instead of a half-hour sitcom.

[40] Producers asked that the series be canceled because of falling ratings, afraid that the show's legacy might be damaged if it were renewed for another season.

The first, Mary, featured David Letterman, Michael Keaton, Swoosie Kurtz and Dick Shawn in the supporting cast.

[45] In the 1985–86 season, Moore returned to CBS in a sitcom titled Mary, which suffered from poor reviews, sagging ratings, and strife within the production crew.

[51] She made a guest appearance on the season two premiere of Hot in Cleveland, which starred her former co-star Betty White.

She was the star of a new musical version of Breakfast at Tiffany's in December 1966, but the show, titled Holly Golightly, was a flop that closed in previews before opening on Broadway.

In reviews of performances in Philadelphia and Boston, critics "murdered" the play in which Moore claimed to be singing with bronchial pneumonia.

During the 1980s, Moore and her production company produced five plays: Noises Off, The Octette Bridge Club, Joe Egg, Benefactors, and Safe Sex.

[58] Moore made her film debut as a nurse in the Jack Lemmon comedy Operation Mad Ball (1957).

[61] Following her success on The Dick Van Dyke Show, she appeared in a string of films in the late 1960s (after signing an exclusive contract with Universal Pictures), including Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967), as a would-be actress in 1920s New York who is taken under the wing of Julie Andrews' title character, and two films released in 1968, What's So Bad About Feeling Good?

[68] Later she reunited with former co-stars in Mary and Rhoda (2000) with Valerie Harper, and The Gin Game (2003) (based on the Broadway play), with Dick Van Dyke.

[85] On October 14, 1980, Moore's son Richard died of an accidental gunshot to the head while handling a small .410 shotgun.

[88] Three-and-a-half weeks earlier, Ordinary People had been released where she played a mother who was grieving over the accidental death of her son.

[101] In addition to her acting work, Moore was the International Chairperson of JDRF (the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation).

The program works on translating basic research advances into new treatments and technologies for those living with type 1 diabetes.

The storyline of the episode includes Moore honoring Ellen for trying to save a 65-year-old lobster from being eaten at a seafood restaurant.

Moore and friend Bernadette Peters worked to make it a no-kill city and to encourage adopting animals from shelters.

[107] In honor of her father, George Tyler Moore, a lifelong American Civil War enthusiast, in 1995 Moore donated funds to acquire an historic structure in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, for Shepherd College (now Shepherd University) to be used as a center for Civil War studies.

[108] Moore also contributed to the renovation of a historic house in Winchester, Virginia, that had been used as headquarters by Confederate Major General Thomas J.

[111] In a Parade magazine article from March 22, 2009, Moore identified herself as a libertarian centrist who watched Fox News.

[124] The bronze sculpture was located in front of the Dayton's department store, later Macy's, near the corner of 7th Street South and Nicollet Mall.

It depicts the iconic moment in the show's opening credits where Moore tosses her tam o' shanter in the air, in a freeze-frame at the end of the montage.

[128][129] In New York City in 2012, Moore and Bernadette Peters were honored by the Ride of Fame and a double-decker bus was dedicated to them and their charity work on behalf of "Broadway Barks", which the duo co-founded.