--- title: Mary Tyler Moore Tribute: Dick Van Dyke description: Dick Van Dyke remembers his pioneering co-star Mary Tyler Moore, who died at 80. canonical: https://time.com/4650213/dick-van-dyke-mary-tyler-moore-tribute/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-26T18:57:35.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:40:28.570Z og:title: Read Dick Van Dyke's Touching Tribute to Mary Tyler Moore og:description: "Just to watch her grow was such a thrill for me." og:url: https://time.com/4650213/dick-van-dyke-mary-tyler-moore-tribute/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd30302c3f4a3402f/6988b761428a9ed803cd5a14/dick-van-dyke-mary-tyler-moore-tribute.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Dick Van Dyke Show og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Read Dick Van Dyke's Touching Tribute to Mary Tyler Moore twitter:description: "Just to watch her grow was such a thrill for me." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd30302c3f4a3402f/6988b761428a9ed803cd5a14/dick-van-dyke-mary-tyler-moore-tribute.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Read Dick Van Dyke's Touching Tribute to Mary Tyler Moore: 'She Left an Imprint on Television Comedy'  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Jan 26, 2017 6:57 PM UTC  Dick Van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore for The Dick Van Dyke Show. Image dated October 10, 1962\. Hollywood, CA. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images) Dick Van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore for The Dick Van Dyke Show. Image dated October 10, 1962\. Hollywood, CA. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images)CBS Photo Archive—CBS via Getty Images  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Jan 26, 2017 6:57 PM UTC [Mary Tyler Moore](http://time.com/4649239/mary-tyler-moore-photos-obituary/) launched her legendary television career on _The Dick Van Dyke_ _Show_ in 1961, playing Van Dyke’s wife, Laura Petrie. The comedic role helped pave the way for not only women in tv comedies, but also for her own show, _The Mary Tyler Moore Show_ _._ In a tribute for [_The Hollywood Reporter_](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/dick-van-dykes-tribute-mary-tyler-moore-she-was-just-best-968672)published on Wednesday following [Moore’s death at the age of 80](http://time.com/4649136/mary-tyler-moore-dead-80/), Van Dyke offered both praise and kind remembrances of his long-time co-star and friend of six decades. In the tribute, Van Dyke reminisced about Moore joining the cast as a young woman. “My first question was, ‘Can this girl do comedy?'” he said. “After that I said, ‘She’s a little young for me.’ I got to be on hand and watch her grow into the talent she became. She was just the best.” The show went on to great success, which Van Dyke credits Moore with helping to make the show “the best five years of my life.” He also expressed pride in watching her accomplishments after their time together on the small screen was ended. “Outside of her family, I don’t think there was anyone more proud of her than I was” he said. “Just to watch her grow was such a thrill for me. She left an imprint on television comedy.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4650213/dick-van-dyke-mary-tyler-moore-tribute/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4650213/dick-van-dyke-mary-tyler-moore-tribute/"},"headline":"Read Dick Van Dyke's Touching Tribute to Mary Tyler Moore: 'She Left an Imprint on Television Comedy'","datePublished":"2017-01-26T18:57:35.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:40:28.570Z","description":"\"Just to watch her grow was such a thrill for me.\"","url":"https://time.com/4650213/dick-van-dyke-mary-tyler-moore-tribute/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Entertainment","Television","Culture"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd30302c3f4a3402f/6988b761428a9ed803cd5a14/dick-van-dyke-mary-tyler-moore-tribute.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd30302c3f4a3402f/6988b761428a9ed803cd5a14/dick-van-dyke-mary-tyler-moore-tribute.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Dick Van Dyke Show","caption":"Dick Van Dyke Show","creditText":"CBS Photo Archive—CBS via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4650213/dick-van-dyke-mary-tyler-moore-tribute/","name":"Read Dick Van Dyke's Touching Tribute to Mary Tyler Moore: 'She Left an Imprint on Television Comedy'"}}]}] ```