Meet Minneapolis marks the passing of Mary Tyler Moore

Mary Tyler Moore statue at Minneapolis Visitor Information honors the character who turned the world on with her smile

Minneapolis (Jan. 25, 2017) --- Meet Minneapolis is mourning the passing of Mary Tyler Moore, whose 1970s sitcom put Minneapolis on the map in the now-classic Mary Tyler Moore Show. During her long and successful career, she starred in more than 50 television shows and 15 films, winning six Emmys, a Tony Award and an Academy Award nomination.

“Mary Tyler Moore played the most famous TV resident Minneapolis has ever had,” said Meet Minneapolis President and CEO Melvin Tennant. “Mary Richards was a character so many people looked up to for her independence, her humor and her spirit. To have her associated with our city has been an honor over the years.

“The 1970s were a time when IDS Center was rising from the ground, Nicollet Mall was still new, and lots of change was coming to Minneapolis,” Tennant said. “The Mary Tyler Moore show, with its images of Minneapolis and frequent references to the city, really brought our growing city onto a national stage. For many people who don’t live here, the Mary Tyler Moore show is what created the image they have in their head of our city—the downtown streetscape, our lakes and parks, the Crystal Court, Basil’s Restaurant and the Kenwood house with the apartment everyone loved. Mary Tyler Moore and her most famous character are indelibly tied to Minneapolis.”

The Mary Tyler Moore statue

Minneapolis Visitor Information is proud to be the home of the Mary Tyler Moore statue, which has been beloved by tourists and locals since TV Land first placed the statue on Nicollet Mall in 2001. It captures the iconic moment Mary throws her tam in the air during the opening credits. The statue, formerly located at Nicollet and 7th Street, moved into the visitor center during the reconstruction of Nicollet.

Locals and visitors who want to see the statue can stop in Minneapolis Visitor Information, which is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and noon to 5 p.m. on weekends, at 505 Nicollet. The center is located in the CenterPoint Energy Building, right off the Nicollet Mall METRO station. Visitors will be allowed to place flowers near the statue to commemorate Mary’s life.

To learn more about Mary Tyler Moore’s connections to Minneapolis, visit Minneapolis.org/MTM.

ABOUT MEET MINNEAPOLIS

Meet Minneapolis is a private, not-for-profit, member-based association. It actively promotes and sells the Minneapolis area as a destination for conventions and meetings, works to maximize the visitor experience and markets the city as a desirable tourist destination to maximize the economic benefit to the greater Minneapolis area.

Meet Minneapolis is accredited by the Destination Marketing Accreditation Program (DMAP) of the Destination Marketing Association International.

Find out more:

Online: www.minneapolis.org and http://go.minneapolis.org

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/meetminneapolis?ref=ts

On Twitter: http://twitter.com/meetminneapolis

On Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/meetminneapolis/

MEDIA CONTACT

Matt Laible, Meet Minneapolis Director of Public Relations & Communications 612.767.8220, mattl@minneapolis.org