Gwendolyn Gillen, 76, artist who created Mary Tyler Moore statue .
Associated Press . MADISON, Wis. - Gwendolyn Gillen, a Wisconsin artist
whose bronze sculpture of Mary Tyler Moore tossing her hat became a
downtown Minneapolis landmark, died Jan. 27. She was 76. Her daughter,
Alessandra Gillen, said her mother died in hospice care at Madison
Heights Senior Community in Madison, where she had lived since 2013.
Gwendolyn Gillen, who grew up in Quincy, Mass., died two days after
Moore died at the age of 80. Alessandra Gillen told the Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel her mother was most proud of the Moore statue. After
Moore's death, more than 150 people tossed their hats near the statue
in homage to "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," the Journal Sentinel
reported. In 2002, Ms. Gillen's life-sized statue of Moore was
dedicated on Nicollet Mall, a pedestrian mall near where Moore threw
her tam in the opening credits of her 1970s TV show, "The Mary Tyler
Moore Show. "It's so enjoyable, really, to be portraying a woman," she
told the Journal Sentinel at the time. "Sculptors are very seldom
called upon to depict a woman of prominence. This is all very
refreshing. Capturing the toss was not easy, Ms. Gillen told the
Journal Sentinel in 2001. "I actually practiced throwing the hat to
find out when it left the hand," she said. "It comes out between 75 and
80 degrees on the slant. So I'm showing it at just between 78 and 80
degrees, with the hat just touching the fingers of her extended right
hand, and the thumb open. "I'm not trying to do anything tricky or
silly - suspending wires or attaching it to a building or pole. I
thought this would be a good way to achieve the effect. The statue is
on display in the Minneapolis Visitor Center during mall
reconstruction. Gwendolyn Scrivener was born on Jan. 6, 1941. Her
father, Carl H. Scrivener, was an editor at the Patriot Ledger in
Quincy. She studied acting at American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New
York, married Ronald Gillen in 1961, and accompanied him on his Air
Force assignments. They settled in the Milwaukee area in the late
1960s, and Ms. Gillen became involved in set design work at a local
theater. Her husband died in 2012. A son, Christopher Gillen, died in
2015. Besides her daughter, of Milwaukee, she leaves a sister. Material
from The Washington Post was used in this obituary.
