Dick Van Dyke recalls meeting Mary Tyler Moore

LOS ANGELES -- Mary Tyler Moore got her big break as a star on the classic sitcom "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and her colleagues recalled their time with the legendary actress on the day of her death.

Dick Van Dyke spoke by phone from his Malibu home and said he remembered meeting Moore when she was just a 23-year-old ingenue.

"Just, you know, classy and beautiful. But I thought, can this girl do comedy? And then I watched her. Just as the weeks went by I couldn't believe how fast she understood, grasped it, and her timing, everything, she just was born to do it," Van Dyke explained.

Van Dyke later posted to Facebook, "There are no words. She was THE BEST! We always said that we changed each other's lives for the better. I watched her grow into the incredible talent that she became. There won't be another one like her."

Fellow co-star Rose Marie was brought to tears by the news of Moore's passing on Wednesday. Moore was 80 years old.

"Everybody used to say their show was like a family. Our show really was a family. Everybody cared for everybody else," Marie said holding back tears.

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Actor Dick Van Dyke, right, looks on as actress Mary Tyler Moore walks by, Feb. 22, 1962, Los Angeles, Calif.

AP Photo/Don Brinn

Moore would go on to achieve even greater success as the star of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" in the 1970s.

She played a single career woman on the show who became a heroine to women everywhere.

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In this Feb. 10, 2012 file photo, actor Max von Sydow poses at the International Film Festival Berlinale, in Berlin.

AP Photo/Gero Breloer, File

Her co-star Edward Asner, who played her boss on the show, tweeted, "A great lady I loved and owe so much to has left us. I will miss her. I will never be able to repay her for the blessings that she gave me."

Moore won seven Emmy Awards in her career and earned an Oscar nomination for her star performance in "Ordinary People."

While receiving the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2012 she thanked the many friends she made during her storied career.

"After having the privilege of working in this business among the most creative and talented people imaginable, I too am happy, after all," she said.

The beloved actress passed away at the age of 80.