Mary Tyler Moore Death: Internet Hoax Claims Actress Dies At 77

A Mary Tyler Moore death hoax spread across the internet this week, claiming that the beloved actress has passed away, sparking an outpouring of condolences on a fake Facebook page.

The news of Moore’s supposed death spread on social media early this week, with a report noting her passing but not giving a cause of death.

The Mary Tyler Moore death rumor picked up steam when someone created a “R.I.P. Mary Tyler Moore” Facebook that included some details about her supposed passing.

“At about 11 a.m. ET on Wednesday (November 05, 2014), our beloved actress Mary Tyler Moore passed away. Mary Tyler Moore was born on December 29, 1936 in New York. She will be missed but not forgotten. Please show your sympathy and condolences by commenting on and liking this page.”

While she is still alive, Mary Tyler Moore is reportedly in ailing health. Friends say her longtime bout with diabetes has left her almost entirely blind.

“I don’t see her often, but I talk to her a bunch,” Dick Van Dyke, who played her husband on The Dick Van Dyke Show, told Closer Weekly. “She hasn’t been too well. She’s really having a battle with it, I’m sorry to say.”

The illness has forced Mary to stay away from the public eye for more than a year, friends added.

“Her eyesight is what the big problem is right now,” said her former Mary Tyler Moore Show co-star Betty White, who added that Moore is “is almost beyond the point [of being able to see].”

The Mary Tyler Moore Show did suffer a real death this week. Richard Schaal, who appeared on the show as well as Rhoda and The Bob Newhart Show, died in California at the age of 86.

On Thursday, reps for Mary Tyler Moore spoke out about the death rumor, saying, “She joins the long list of celebrities who have been victimized by this hoax. She’s still alive and well, stop believing what you see on the Internet.”