Dick Van Dyke Mourns On-Screen Love Mary Tyler Moore: 'We Changed Each Other's Lives for the Better'

Mary Tyler Moore passed away Wednesday at the age of 80

Dick Van Dyke is mourning the loss of his TV wife and late costar, Mary Tyler Moore.

Hours after news broke of the actress’ death — she passed away Wednesday, Jan. 25 surrounded by close friends and her husband of more than 33 years, Dr. S. Robert Levine — Van Dyke, 91, took to Instagram to remember his fellow Dick Van Dyke Show cast mate.

“There are no words. She was THE BEST!” he tweeted. “We always said that we changed each other’s lives for the better. I…”

In addition to the tweet, Van Dyke included a link to a video of the on-screen couple performing “I’ve Got Your Number.”

Van Dyke also spoke about Moore to The Hollywood Reporter, saying, “I don’t know what made her comic timing so great. On Dick Van Dyke, we had Morey Amsterdam and Rose Marie, both of whom were old hams and had razor-sharp timing, and mine wasn’t bad either. But Mary just picked it up so fast. She had us all laughing after a couple of episodes. She just grabbed onto the character and literally turned us into an improv group, it was so well-oiled. That show was the best five years of my life.”

On Thursday morning, Van Dyke also spoke to Good Day LA about her passing. “It was not a shock, of course, but just something we were dreading and dreading, knowing it was coming,” the actor said.

Van Dyke starred as Rob Petrie on the 5-season comedy — opposite Moore, who appeared as Laura Petrie — from 1961-66.

At the 2012 Screen Actors Guild Awards, Moore was given a Life Achievement Award, where she was introduced by Van Dyke.