Television icon Mary Tyler Moore has revealed she will undergo brain surgery.

The 73-year-old star says she will undergo surgery to remove a meningioma, a benign tumor of the lining tissue of the brain.

Her rep told People: “At the recommendation of her neurologist, who has been monitoring this for years, and a neurosurgeon, Mary decided to proceed with this fairly routine procedure.”

Moore became America's sweetheart by playing Laura Petrie on the [expletive] Van Dyke Show in the 60’s; a decade later, she starred as the romantically challenged TV associate producer Mary Richards on The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

She was also nominated for a best actress Oscar for Robert Redford’s Ordinary People back in 1980; her most recent television appearance was opposite Betty White on Hot In Cleveland.

Moore  --  who has been married three times  --  suffered heart-break when her only son Richie Meeker died when he accidentally shot himself with a gun in 1980, aged 24.

Her sister Elizabeth died in 1978, aged 21, in what was ruled a suicide following a drug overdose.