Dick Van Dyke Mourns Mary Tyler Moore: "We Changed Each Other's Lives For the Better"

Dick Van Dyke is mourning the loss of his TV wife Mary Tyler Moore. Shortly after news broke of her death on Wednesday, the actor took to social media to pay tribute to his Dick Van Dyke Show costar. "There are no words," he wrote alongside a video of them performing. "She was THE BEST! We always said that we changed each other's lives for the better." In addition to his tweet, he also released a heartfelt tribute in The Hollywood Reporter. "She was 23 years old, gorgeous of course, and had a kind of mid-Atlantic accent," he wrote. "She sounded a little bit like Katharine Hepburn. My first question was, 'Can this girl do comedy?' 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 actor also touched on her comic timing, recalling how she made everyone on the Dick Van Dyke set laugh. "That show was the best five years of my life," he added. After the series went off the air, she went on to do The Mary Tyler Moore Show, something the actor deemed a great milestone. "It kicked off an awful lot of enthusiasm in a lot of women. She got it moving! Thank God she ended up with Carl Reiner and those writers, who just understood her and what she did." Dick concluded his tribute by reflecting on when he presented her with the SAG Life Achievement Award in 2012. "For me, it was a payoff moment. A culmination. Outside of her family, I don't think there was anyone more proud of her than I was. Just to watch her grow was such a thrill for me. She left an imprint on television comedy."