SAG to honor Mary Tyler Moore

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- Hollywood's Screen Actors Guild announced plans Thursday to honor actress, producer and humanitarian Mary Tyler Moore with its life achievement award.

Moore, 74, will be presented with the prize, given annually to an actor who fosters the "finest ideals of the acting profession," at the 18th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards Jan. 29 in Los Angeles, the guild said. The show is to be broadcast on TNT and TBS.

"Mary Tyler Moore won our hearts as Laura Petrie and Mary Richards, our respect as her production company became synonymous with quality television, our awe as she tackled difficult subject matter in film and on Broadway, and our admiration she turned her public recognition into a catalyst to draw attention to critical and deeply personal health and social issues," Screen Actors Guild National President Ken Howard said in a statement. "She truly embodies the spirit behind SAG's life achievement award, and we are honored to proclaim her as its 48th recipient."

Moore, former star of "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," is the winner of seven Emmy Awards and a Tony Award.