Mary Tyler Moore: Lifetime achievement award would make dad happy

(CBS) Mary Tyler Moore will receive the lifetime achievement recognition at the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday, a true honor for the actress who has had a long television and film career.

"Receiving a lifetime achievement award from anybody who wants to single me out as deserving of it is a wonderful honor," Moore told Reuters. "It pleases me to know that it would make my Dad awfully happy, I know that."

Moore rose to fame as Laura Petrie while starring in the hit 1960s CBS sitcom, "The Dick Van Dyke Show." In the '70s, she portrayed 30-something career woman Mary Richards in the long-running series, "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." And at 75 years old, Moore continues to act. She recently made a guest appearance on the Betty White series, "Hot in Cleveland."

So, it's quite fitting that Moore's television husband, Dick Van Dyke, will be presenting her SAG award on Sunday.

Moore describes her former co-star, Van Dyke, has her "biggest fan," telling Reuters, "He would encourage me because it was the first time I had done any real comedy. And I said to Dick, 'I'm so nervous,' and he said, 'Mary, you just do what your instinct tells you and don't be afraid of moments where you think you'll look like a blubbering idiot. Just do it to the best of your ability and you're going to be fine.'"

The Brooklyn, N.Y. native is no stranger to the awards scene. She has received seven Emmys, three Golden Globes and a Tony award.

The 18th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will be presented in 15 movie and TV acting categories on Sunday in Los Angeles, and will air live on TNT and TBS.

The show will be without a host, but an A-list group of presenters has signed on to announce the winners, including George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Brad Pitt, Michelle Williams, Ben Kingsley, Owen Wilson and Kenneth Branagh.