Legendary actress Mary Tyler Moore has been left nearly blind from her years-long battle against diabetes, according to friends of the iconic TV star.
The 77-year-old Moore was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 33, and she’s been largely out of public view for the past two years fighting the disease.
“Her eyesight is what the big problem is right now,” long-time pal and “Mary Tyler Moore Show” co-star Betty White told Closer Weekly magazine.
“[Moore is now] almost beyond the point [of being able to see].”
Despite the illness that’s kept her at home for most of the past two years, she’s managed to stay in touch with famous friends.
“I don’t see her often, but I talk to her a bunch,” said veteran funnyman Dick Van Dyke, who played Moore’s husband on “The Dick Van Dyke Show.” ”She hasn’t been too well. She’s really having a battle with it, I’m sorry to say.”
Valerie Harper, a “Mary Tyler Moore Show” co-star before spinning off into her own successful show, said diabetes has taken a brutal toll on Moore.
“[The diabetes] does ravage her body, but she stays healthy,” said Harper.
The “Rhoda” star called Moore a “wonderful friend,” who sounded great when they last spoke.
Another friend of Moore’s also said the actress is in remarkably good spirits despite her physical condition.
“Mary is not a woe-is-me woman,” the pal told the mag. “She has her bad days emotionally, but she just tries to find enjoyment in each and every day.”
Family confidante Dr. Mark Atkinson said he keeps in close contact with Moore’s husband, Dr. Robert Levine, and found that they’re coping the best they can.
“We’ve laughed together, cried together, gotten disappointed together,” Atkinson said. “They’ve just been the perfect couple.”
Moore has struggled with her vision for years.
Back in 1997, she was scheduled to be the mistress of ceremonies for the Directors Guild of America awards show in New York before she withdrew at the last second. She had gone “temporarily blind,” a union official said.
Moore is best known for playing TV news producer Mary Richards in “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” from 1970 to 1977.
The sitcom was considered a trailblazer for depicting a 30-something single woman happily pursuing a career without obsessing about finding a mate.