‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show’: Which Actors Are Still Alive?

When Mary Tyler Moore first appeared on The Dick Van Dyke Show, she was still a raw actor, having had minor roles in TV shows like Richard Diamond, Private Detective, and Johnny Staccato. Her roles in such shows were meant to highlight how much of an eye candy piece she was and focused less on her talent.

It wasn’t until her role as Laura Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show that Moore began to shine. The role eventually led to her eponymous show. The Mary Tyler Moore Show focused on Moore’s character, Mary Richards, a 30-year-old unmarried, independent woman whose whole life revolved around her career as an associate producer at a fictional news station.

The show was groundbreaking, as, before it, women weren’t always depicted as successful on their own. The Mary Tyler Moore Show ran for seven seasons and featured a talented cast. So, which actors from the series are still alive?

Mary Tyler Moore died in 2017

Mary Tyler Moore found her breakthrough on The Dick Van Dyke Show, playing Dick Van Dyke’s character’s wife. The show gave her a platform and made her a household name. After the show ended, Moore became an in-demand actor and had back-to-back projects appearing in Don’t Just Stand There, Run a Crooked Mile, and her popular self-titled show.

Throughout her life, Moore faced several health issues and battled alcoholism, diabetes, and a tumor. However, the veteran actor died on Jan. 25, 2017, from cardiopulmonary arrest at 80.

Ted Knight was the first actor from the show to die

Ted Knight played the dim-witted Ted Baxter, who often made mistakes and wasn’t always aware of what topics his show covered. Despite not being good at his job, he is never fired and is depicted as having a charming personality.

Knight was diagnosed with colon cancer a few months after The Mary Tyler Moore Show wrapped up. In 1985, the cancer spread, and by 1986, his condition had worsened. The actor was the first cast member on TMTMS to die on Aug. 26, 1985, at 62.

Two actors died in 2019

Ted Knight’s character’s wife, Georgette Franklin Baxter, was friends with Moore’s Mary. On The Mary Tyler Moore Show, she was depicted as a ditzy yet sweet and perceptive woman devoted to her husband, Ted Baxter. Georgia Bright Engel played Georgette from 1972 to 1977. Engel died in Princeton, New Jersey, on April 12, 2019, but the cause of death was unknown as the actor didn’t consult doctors because of her religious beliefs. She was 70 years old.

Two months after Engel’s death, another cast member, Valerie Harper, died. Harper played Rhoda Morgenstern, Mary’s neighbor and best friend, from the first season to the fourth and became a guest star from Season 6 to Season 7. Harper even landed her spinoff series Rhoda, which aired for five seasons. The star received a cancer diagnosis in 2009, and although she fought it, she lost the battle on the morning of Aug. 30, 2019. She was 80 years old.

Betty White closed the curtains on the cast of ‘TMTMS’

The year of 2021 was tough for The Mary Tyler Moore Show creator James L. Brooks, per Variety, as many of his collaborators from the show died. Cloris Leachman played Mary’s neighbor and friend, Phyllis, for five seasons and starred in her spinoff, Phyllis. Leachman died of a stroke on Jan. 27, 2021, in her sleep at her home at 94.

Gavin MacLeod, who played Murray Slaughter on the show, followed a few months later, dying from ill health on May 29, 2021. He was 90 years old. Ed Asner, who played the loveable Lou Grant on TMTMS, died exactly four months later, on Aug. 29, of natural causes. He was 91.

Betty White was the final and oldest cast member of TMTMS to die. White appeared for three seasons and played the judgmental Sue Ann Nivens. White died in her sleep on Dec. 31, 2021, two weeks shy of her 100th birthday.