Valerie Harper - # 216

Valerie Harper, "Mary Tyler Moore Show," and "Rhoda" star, dies at age 80

She was number 216 on the list.


Actress Valerie Harper, who played Rhoda Morgenstern on the iconic 1970s television shows "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "Rhoda," has died, her daughter confirmed to CBS News. She was 80.

The cause of death was not immediately available, but Harper's husband, Tony Cacciotti, posted on Facebook in July that he had been told to put her in hospice care but decided against it. "We will continue going forward as long as the powers above allow us. I will do my very best in making Val as comfortable as possible," Cacciotti wrote.

Harper was told she only had a few months to live when she was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer in 2013.

"I know a lot of you feel like you know me, that you are part of the Morgenstern family and I feel I know you too and so I owe you the truth at the same time as everybody else," Harper told "People" in 2013.

Originally trained as a dancer, Harper was part of the famed Second City company in Chicago before she was spotted by casting director and CBS vice president Ethel Winant and asked to audition for a role on Mary Tyler Moore's new show, originally from the Bronx, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Harper described the audition as the "easiest, most pleasant audition process I ever went through."

Harper's portrayal of Rhoda and the runaway success of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" led to Harper being given her own spinoff series called "Rhoda" by Moore's independent production company. The show was a smash success at first, becoming the first series to debut at Number 1. Her character's wedding to longtime love Joe was at the time the second highest-rated television episode and Harper won an Emmy in 1975. It was one of four Emmys she won for playing Rhoda.

But the show took a different direction in later seasons and ratings dropped, leading to early cancellation.

Harper's character, the tough-talking Jewish woman from the Bronx, Rhoda Morgenstern, was not necessarily destined to be friends with Moore's sweet, Midwestern Mary Richards. But not only did the characters become one of the most important female friendships in television history, the actresses became close friends.

In 2013 when Harper was diagnosed with brain cancer, Moore said she was "absolutely devastated." The pair reunited for a TV movie in 2000 called "Mary and Rhoda." Moore died in 2017.

Harper returned to television in 1986 in the series "Valerie," playing a suburban mother with three sons. After the first season, Harper and her husband fought for salary increases and eventually refused to come to work.

NBC and Lorimar Television fired Harper, claiming she was difficult to work with and reworked the show to be about the family. Harper sued NBC for breach of contract and libel and in 1988, she won $1.4 million in damages and a share of the show's profits, according to The Hollywood Reporter.


Harper continued to work, including appearing on "Desperate Housewives," "Drop Dead Diva" "Signed, Sealed, and Delivered" and "Dancing With the Stars." Through the years, she's made plenty of guest appearances, including spots on "Sex and the City," "Melrose Place" and "That '70s Show."

Her memoir, "I, Rhoda," was published in 2013.

A lifelong non-smoker, Harper was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2009. Four years later, she was diagnosed with leptomeningeal carcinomatosis, a metastatic disease, meaning cancer from one area of the body may have spread to another — in this case, the brain.

"More than anything I'm living in the moment," Harper said at the time. "I really want Americans and all of us to be less afraid of death... don't go to the funeral before the day of the funeral. While you're living, live."

Filmography

Films

Year       Title       Role       Notes

1956      Rock, Rock, Rock!             Dancer at Prom (uncredited)     

1959      Li'l Abner             Luke's Wife (uncredited)              

1963      Trash Program   Wife (voice, uncredited)               Short film

1969      With a Feminine Touch                 

1973      The Shape of Things        Herself Television movie

1974      Thursday's Game              Ann Menzente

Freebie and the Bean     Consuelo             Nominated — Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actress

1977      Night Terror       Carol Turner       Television movie (also known as Night Drive)

1979      Chapter Two      Faye Medwick   Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture

1980      The Last Married Couple in America         Barbara               

Fun and Games Carol Hefferman               Television movie

The Shadow Box               Maggie

1981      The Day the Loving Stopped        Norma Danner

1982      Farrell for the People      Elizabeth "Liz" Farrell

Don't Go to Sleep             Laura

1983      An Invasion of Privacy    Kate Bianchi

1984      Blame It on Rio Karen Hollis       

1985      The Execution    Hannah Epstein                 Television movie

1987      Strange Voices   Lynn Glover

1988      Drop-Out Mother             Nora Cromwell

The People Across the Lake          Rachel Yoman

1990      Stolen: One Husband      Katherine Slade

1991      Perry Mason: The Case of the Fatal Fashion          Dyan Draper

1993      The Poetry Hall of Fame                Herself

1994      A Friend to Die For           Mrs. Delvecchio

1995      The Great Mom Swap     Grace Venessi

1997      Dog's Best Friend             Chicken (voice)

2000      Mary and Rhoda               Rhoda Morgenstern-Rousseau

2002      Dancing at the Harvest Moon      Claire

2007      Golda's Balcony                Golda Meir         

2011      Shiver    Audrey Alden    

My Future Boyfriend      Bobbi Moreau   Television movie

Fixing Pete          Mrs. Friedlander

Certainty              Kathryn               

2014      The Town That Came A-Courtin'                 Charlotte             Television movie

2015      Merry Xmas        Mother                 7 minute short

2016      My Mom and the Girl     Norma/Nanny           22 minute short

Stars in Shorts: No Ordinary Love              Mother                 Merry Xmas segment

Television

Year       Title       Role       Notes

1963      The Doctors        Mrs. Steiner        Season 1, Episode 11: "Zip Guns Can Kill"

1970–1977          The Mary Tyler Moore Show       Rhoda Morgenstern        92 episodes

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (1971–73)

Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film (1973–74)

Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

1971      Story Theatre     Unknown            Unknown episodes

Love, American Style      Barbara Watkins               Episode: "Love and the Housekeeper"

The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour          Herself 1 episode

1972      Columbo              Eve Babcock       Episode: "The Most Crucial Game"

1972      The Dick Cavett Show     Herself 1 episode

1973      The Carol Burnett Show                 Herself 1 episode

1974–1978          Rhoda   Rhoda Morgenstern Gerard         110 episodes

Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy

Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series (1976–78)

1975      John Denver Rocky Mountain Christmas 1975 TV Special                Herself Special guest

1976      The Muppet Show           Episode: "Valerie Harper"

1976-1977          Dinah!   Herself 4 episodes

1976-1990          The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson             Herself 8 episodes

1978-1980          The Mike Douglas Show                Herself 7 episodes

1982      Fridays Herself 1 episode

1986      The Love Boat    Laurel Peters      2 episodes: "Egyptian Cruise Part 1 & Part 2"

1986–1987          Valerie Valerie Hogan    32 episodes

1990      City        Liz Gianni             13 episodes

1990      Late Show with David Letterman               Herself 1 episode

1994      Missing Persons                Ellen Hartig         3 episodes

1995      The Office           Rita Stone           6 episodes

1996–1999          Touched by an Angel      Kate Prescott     2 episodes: "Flesh and Blood" (1996) and "Full Circle" (1999)

1996-2001          The Rosie O'Donnell Show            Herself 6 episodes

1996      Promised Land Molly Arnold      Episode: "The Magic Gate"

1998      Generator Gawl                Various (voice) Unknown episodes

Melrose Place    Mia Mancini       2 episodes: "Mama Mia" and "Last Train to Bagdad"

Sorcerous Stabber Orphen           Townspeople (voice)      Episode: "The Sword of Baltanders"

1999      Sex and the City                Wallis Wysel       Episode: "Shortcomings"

2000      Beggars and Choosers    Unknown            Episode: "Be Careful What You Wish For"

As Told by Ginger             Maryellen (voice)             Episode: "The Wedding Frame"

2001      That '70s Show Paula     Episode: "Eric's Naughty No-no"

Family Law          Julia       Episode: "Clemency"

Three Sisters      Merle Keats        2 episodes: "The In Laws" and "Three Thanksgivings, One Turkey"

2003−2004          Less than Perfect              Judith    2 episodes: "Claude's Alternative Thanksgiving" and "Mom's the Word"

2005      Committed         Lily Solomon       Episode: "The Mother Episode"

2007-2016          Entertainment Tonight   Herself 7 episodes

2008      The Oprah Winfrey Show              Herself 1 episode

2009      'Til Death             Barbara                Episode: "The Courtship of Eddie's Parents"

2011      Desperate Housewives Claire Bremmer                 Episode: "Where Do I Belong"

2011–2012          Drop Dead Diva                 Judge Leslie Singer           2 episodes: "Bride-a-Palooza" and "Freak Show"

2011-2013          The Talk               Herself 1 episode

2013–2018          The Simpsons    Various characters (voice)            8 episodes

2013      Hot in Cleveland               Angie     Episode: "Love Is All Around"

The View             Herself 2 episodes

Dancing with the Stars   Herself (Contestant)       6 episodes

2014–2019          American Dad! IHOP Diner / Various (voice)        2 episodes

2014      Signed, Sealed, Delivered     Theresa Capodiamonte Guest star; 2 episodes: "Time to Start Livin' " and "To Whom It May Concern"

2015      Melissa & Joey Aunt Bunny         Episode: "Thanks But No Thanks"

2 Broke Girls       Nola       Episode: "And The Great Unwashed"

2016      Childrens Hospital            Mamma Fiorucci               Episode: "Child