Valerie Harper

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Valerie Kathryn Harper (August 22, 1939 – August 30, 2019) was an American actress. She began her career as a dancer on Broadway, making her debut as a replacement in the musical Li'l Abner.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She played Rhoda Morgenstern on The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970–1977) and its spinoff Rhoda (1974–1978). For her work on Mary Tyler Moore, she received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series three times, and later received the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Rhoda.

Her film appearances include roles in Freebie and the Bean (1974) and Chapter Two (1979), both of which garnered her Golden Globe Award nominations.

From 1986 to 1987, Harper appeared as Valerie Hogan on the sitcom Valerie, from which she was fired after two seasons. Her character was killed off, and the show was retitled Valerie's Family and eventually The Hogan Family. Actress Sandy Duncan was cast in a new role that served as a replacement for Harper's character.

Harper returned to stage work in her later career, appearing in several Broadway productions. In 2010, she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her performance as Tallulah Bankhead in the play Looped.

Early life

Harper was born on August 22, 1939, in Suffern, New York,<ref name=biochannel>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=archiveamericantv>Harper in Template:Cite AV media</ref> the daughter of Iva Mildred (née McConnell)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Howard Donald Harper. Her father was a traveling lighting salesman; her mother was born (and raised) in Dalmeny, Saskatchewan, before becoming a teacher and later training as a nurse. Her parents married in Alberta before her mother immigrated to the United States.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Harper was the middle child of three, between her sister Leanne and her brother Merrill, who later took the name "Don". After her parents' divorce in 1957, she also had a half-sister, Virginia,Template:Citation needed from her father's second marriage to Angela Posillico (1933–1996).

She stated that her parents were expecting a boy. But after her arrival her first and middle names were derived from tennis players Valerie Scott and Kay Stammers who were victorious doubles partners at a tournament Harper's father was attending the day she was born.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Sfn Her father was of English and French-Canadian ancestry and her mother was of French-Canadian, Irish, Scottish, and Welsh ancestry.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Harper based her character Rhoda Morgenstern on her Italian-American stepmother and Penny Ann Green (née Joanna Greenberg), with whom she danced in the Broadway musical Wildcat.Template:Sfn<ref name=archiveamericantv /> She was raised Catholic and attended several Catholic schools during her childhood,Template:Sfn<ref name=irhoda/> although at an early age she quit attending church.Template:Sfn

Harper's family moved frequently throughout her childhood due to her father's work.<ref name=irhoda/> When she was two years old, shortly after her brother was born, the family relocated from Northampton, Massachusetts to South Orange, New Jersey, where she enrolled in childhood dance classes.<ref name=irhoda>Template:Cite web</ref> When Harper was in first grade, the family relocated again to California, living in Altadena and Pasadena before briefly residing in Monroe, Michigan.<ref name=irhoda/> In 1951, the family settled in Ashland, Oregon, where Harper attended junior high school for three years.<ref name=irhoda/> "During those years in Oregon, Dad was gone on more frequent and more lengthy road trips," Harper recalled. "As a result, Mom was alone a lot, so much that she was virtually a single parent."<ref name=irhoda/>

After she completed junior high school in Oregon, the family moved again to Jersey City, New Jersey,<ref name=irhoda/> where Harper attended Lincoln High School.<ref>Arnold, Laurence. "Valerie Harper, 'Rhoda' in Hit '70s Television Shows, Dies at 80", Bloomberg News, August 31, 2019. Accessed September 12, 2021. "For her father's job, the family moved every few years, from Massachusetts to New Jersey to California to Michigan to Oregon and then back to New Jersey, where Harper attended Lincoln High School in Jersey City."</ref> before graduating from the private Young Professionals School on West 56th Street, where classmates included Sal Mineo, Tuesday Weld, and Carol Lynley.<ref name=archiveamericantv />

Career

Broadway dancer and improv

Harper began her show business career as a dancer and chorus girl on Broadway, and went on to perform in several Broadway shows, some choreographed by Michael Kidd, including Wildcat (starring Lucille Ball), Li'l Abner, Take Me Along (starring Jackie Gleason), and Subways Are for Sleeping. She was also cast in the musical Destry Rides Again, but was forced to leave rehearsals due to illness. She returned to Broadway in February 2010, playing Tallulah Bankhead in Matthew Lombardo's Looped at the Lyceum Theatre.<ref name=looped>Template:Cite web</ref>

Harper had bit parts in Rock, Rock, Rock! (1956) and the film version of Li'l Abner (1959), where she played a Yokumberry Tonic wife. She broke into television on a 1963 episode of the soap opera The Doctors ("Zip Guns Can Kill"), and was an extra in Love with the Proper Stranger (1963). She was in the ensemble cast of Paul Sills' Story Theatre and toured with Second City along with then-husband Richard Schaal, Linda Lavin, and others, later appearing in sketches on Playboy After Dark in 1969. She performed several characters in a comedy LP record, When You're in Love the Whole World is Jewish (1965), which included the popular novelty single, The Ballad of Irving, a recitation by TV announcer Frank Gallop. Harper and Schaal moved to Los Angeles in 1968, and co-wrote an episode of Love, American Style.<ref name=archiveamericantv />

Television and film

Harper with Mary Tyler Moore and Cloris Leachman in the final episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1977)

Richard Schaal and Harper wrote "Love and the Visitor" (1970) for Love, American Style, a TV romantic comedy series.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite book </ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

While doing theater in Los Angeles in 1970, Harper was spotted by casting agent Ethel Winant, who called her in to audition for the role of Rhoda Morgenstern on The Mary Tyler Moore Show.<ref name=archiveamericantv /> She co-starred there from 1970 to 1974, then starred in the spinoff series Rhoda (CBS 1974–1978) in which her character returned to New York City.

She won four Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award for her work as Rhoda Morgenstern. The first season of Rhoda was released on DVD on April 21, 2009 by Shout! Factory.<ref>"Rhoda - Formal Press Release from Shout! Factory for Rhoda's 1st Season DVDs" Template:Webarchive Tvshowsondvd.com, accessed January 26, 2011.</ref>

Harper was nominated for a Golden Globe for "New Star of the Year" for her supporting role in Freebie and the Bean (1974),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and was a guest star on The Muppet Show in 1976, its first season.Template:Citation needed She had a starring role in the suspense movie Night Terror (1977), playing a murder witness who's pursued by the killer. She had a supporting role in the romantic comedy Chapter Two (1979), starring James Caan and Marsha Mason, and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress. She also starred as Maggie in a telefilm production of the Michael Cristofer play The Shadow Box (1980), directed by Paul Newman.

Harper returned to situation comedy in 1986 when she played family matriarch Valerie Hogan on the NBC series Valerie.Template:Sfn Following a salary dispute with NBC and production company Lorimar in 1987, she was fired from the series at the end of its second season,Template:Efn and she sued NBC and Lorimar for breach of contract. Her claims against NBC were dismissed, but the jury found that Lorimar had wrongfully fired her and awarded her $1.4 million plus 12.5% of the show's profits.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The series continued without her, with the explanation that her character had died off-screen.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn In 1987, it was initially renamed Valerie's Family, then The Hogan Family, as Harper was replaced by Sandy Duncan, who played her sister-in-law Sandy Hogan.Template:Sfn

Harper appeared in various television films, including guest roles on such series as Touched by an Angel (1996), Melrose Place (1998) ,Sex and the City (1999), and That 70's Show (2001).

In 2000, she reunited with Moore in Mary and Rhoda, a television film that reunited their characters in later life.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Later career

Harper at 2010 The Heart Truth

Harper was a member of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and ran for its presidency in 2001, losing to Melissa Gilbert. She served on SAG's Hollywood board of directors.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2005–2006, Harper portrayed Golda Meir in a United States national tour of the one-woman drama Golda's Balcony.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A film of the production was released in 2007.

She played Tallulah Bankhead in the world-premiere production of Matthew Lombardo's Looped at the Pasadena Playhouse from June 27 to August 3, 2008.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=LAT>Template:Cite news</ref> The show moved to Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., in 2009.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It then briefly ran on Broadway at the Lyceum Theatre, from February 2010 (previews) through April 2010, for which Harper received a Tony Award nomination.<ref name=looped /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She was to continue the role on a national tour beginning January 2013, but withdrew due to her health.<ref name=rizzo>Template:Cite news</ref>

She played Claire Bremmer, aunt of Susan Delfino (Teri Hatcher), on ABC's Desperate Housewives in 2011.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

On September 4, 2013, Harper was announced as a contestant for the 17th season of Dancing with the Stars, partnered with professional dancer Tristan MacManus.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> They were eliminated from the show on October 7, 2013.

One of Harper's final network television roles, in 2015, was a guest role as Nola on 2 Broke Girls. This was a full circle moment, as the show was similar to her breakout role of two best girlfriends making it on their own in a city as portrayed in The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Coincidentally, on Harper's own show Rhoda, Vivian Vance guest starred on Rhoda shortly before Vance's death, which mirrored Vance's breakout role of two best girlfriends portrayed in I Love Lucy.

Harper appeared as the character Wanda on the American comedy web television series Liza on Demand, in its July 11, 2018, episode: "Valentine's Day".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Activism and charity work

In the 1970s, Harper was involved in the women's liberation movement and was an advocate of the Equal Rights Amendment.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref> With Dennis Weaver she co-founded L.I.F.E. (Love Is Feeding Everyone) in 1983, a charity that fed thousands of needy people in Los Angeles.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On March 30, 2012, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) completed a merger of equals forming a new union SAG-AFTRA. As a result of this merger, a group of actors including Harper, fellow voice actors Michael Bell, Clancy Brown, Harper’s former stepdaughter Wendy Schaal, and other actors including former SAG President Edward Asner, Martin Sheen, Ed Harris, and Nancy Sinatra immediately sued against the current SAG President Ken Howard and several SAG Vice Presidents to overturn the merger and separate the (now merged) two unions because of their claims that the election was improper.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The plaintiffs dropped their lawsuit several months later.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Personal life

Harper's NYC roommate was Arlene Golonka.<ref name="outsider/lived-with-valerie-harper">Template:Cite web</ref>

Harper married actor Richard Schaal in 1964. They divorced in 1978, after which she had a relationship with Peter Horton.<ref name="gettyimages/163765575">Template:Cite web</ref> She married Tony Cacciotti in 1987, after dating for seven years, and they adopted a daughter, Cristina.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Despite playing Jewish characters such as Rhoda Morgenstern,<ref name=jewishnot /> Harper herself was not Jewish.<ref name=jewishnot>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2014 Harper was on The Howard Stern Show and, while discussing her terminal illness, told Howard in private a secret code word that only the two of them would know, which could be used after her death to prove if psychics were real.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> This idea for a secret word was based on a pact Harry Houdini had made with his wife Bess<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> where they promised each other that the first one to die would attempt to contact the surviving spouse from the afterlife, using a code the couple had created to verify any spiritualists or psychics claiming they had made contact. In December, 2024, magician and mentalist Oz Pearlman appeared on the Howard Stern Show and guessed that the word was "curly."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Illness and death

In 2009, Harper was diagnosed with lung cancer.<ref name=USAToday>Lloyd, Janice (March 6, 2013). "Harper's brain cancer likely related to previous cancer". USA Today.</ref> She announced on March 6, 2013, that tests from a January hospital stay revealed she had leptomeningeal carcinomatosis, a rare condition where cancer cells spread into the meninges, the membranes surrounding the brain. She said that her doctors had given her as little as three months to live.<ref name=peoplecancer>Template:Cite news</ref> Although the disease was considered incurable, her doctors said they were treating her with chemotherapy to try to slow its progress.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In April 2014, Harper said she was responding well to the treatment.<ref>Valerie Harper Reveals: "I Am Absolutely Cancer-Free!". Closer. Retrieved April 16, 2014.</ref> On July 30, 2015, she was hospitalized in Maine after falling unconscious, and taken via medevac to a larger hospital for further treatment.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She was later discharged.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2016, Harper's cancer treatment continued at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and she was well enough to appear in a short film, My Mom and the Girl, based on the experiences of director/writer Susie Singer Carter, whose mother has Alzheimer's disease.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In September 2017, she said: "People are saying, 'She's on her way to death and quickly'. Now it's five years instead of three months... I'm going to fight this. I'm going to see a way."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> At the time, she was developing a television series with Carter.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

By July 2019, she was on a regimen of "a multitude of medications and chemotherapy drugs" and was experiencing "extreme physical and painful challenges" that required "around-the-clock, 24/7 care."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Harper died on the morning of August 30, 2019, in Los Angeles.<ref>Saperstein, Pat. "Valerie Harper, Rhoda on 'Mary Tyler Moore Show,' Dies at 80" Variety, August 30, 2019</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Harper is buried at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, California.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Filmography

Films

Year Title Role Notes
1956 Rock, Rock, Rock! Dancer at Prom Uncredited
1959 Li'l Abner Luke's Wife
1963 Trash Program Wife Voice, uncredited
1969 With a Feminine Touch
1973 Template:Sortname Herself Television film
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 film
1979 Chapter Two Faye Medwick Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture
1980 Template:Sortname Barbara
Fun and Games Carol Hefferman Television film
Template:Sortname Maggie
1981 The Day the Loving Stopped Norma Danner
1982 Farrell for the People Elizabeth "Liz" Farrell
Don't Go to Sleep Laura
1983 Template:Sortname Kate Bianchi
1984 Blame It on Rio Karen Hollis
1985 Template:Sortname Hannah Epstein Television film
1987 Strange Voices Lynn Glover
1988 Drop-Out Mother Nora Cromwell
Template:Sortname Rachel Yoman
1989 Hanna-Barbera's 50th: A Yabba Dabba Doo Celebration Herself
1990 Stolen: One Husband Katherine Slade
1991 Perry Mason: The Case of the Fatal Fashion Dyan Draper
1993 Template:Sortname Herself
1994 Template:Sortname Mrs. Delvecchio
1995 Template:Sortname 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 film
Fixing Pete Mrs. Friedlander
Certainty Kathryn
2014 The Town That Came A-CourtinTemplate:' Charlotte Television film
2015 Merry Xmas Mother 7 minute short
2016 My Mom and the Girl Norma/Nanny<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 22 minute short
Stars in Shorts: No Ordinary Love Mother Merry Xmas segment

Television

Title Role Notes
1963 The Doctors Mrs. Steiner Episode: "Zip Guns Can Kill"
1970–1977 Template:Sortname Rhoda Morgenstern 92 episodes
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Template:Small
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film Template:Small
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"
The Dick Cavett Show Herself 1 episode
1973 The Carol Burnett Show
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 Template:Small
1975 John Denver Rocky Mountain Christmas 1975 TV Special Herself Television special
Dean Martin Celebrity Roast
1976 The Muppet Show Episode: "Valerie Harper"
1976–1977 Dinah! 4 episodes
1976–1990 The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson 8 episodes
1978–1980 The Mike Douglas Show 7 episodes
1982 Fridays 1 episode
1986 Template:Sortname Laurel Peters 2 episodes: "Egyptian Cruise Part 1 & Part 2"
1986–1987 Valerie Valerie Hogan 32 episodes
1989–1990 The Arsenio Hall Show Herself 2 episodes
1990 City Liz Gianni 13 episodes
Late Night with David Letterman Herself 1 episode
1991 Mary Tyler Moore: The 20th Anniversary Show Television special
1994 Missing Persons Ellen Hartig 3 episodes
1995 The Late Late Show with Tom Snyder Herself 1 episode
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
Melrose Place Mia Mancini 2 episodes
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
2002 The Mary Tyler Moore Reunion Herself Television special
2003−2004 Less than Perfect Judith 2 episodes
2005 Committed Lily Solomon Episode: "The Mother Episode"
2007–2016 Entertainment Tonight Herself 7 episodes
2008 The Oprah Winfrey Show 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
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<ref>Template:Cite press release</ref> 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: "Childrens Horsepital"

Web

Year Title Role Notes
2018 Liza on Demand Wanda Episode: "Valentine's Day"

Theater

Year Title Role Notes
1957–1958 Li'l Abner Dancer Replacement, was not in opening night cast.
1959–1960 Take Me Along Lady Entertainer, Townswoman
1960–1961 Wildcat Dancer
1961–1962 Subways Are for Sleeping Dancer
1967–1968 Something Different Beth Nemerov Replacement
1970–1971 Paul Sills' Story Theatre Various
1971 Ovid's Metamorphoses Ensemble
1995 Death Defying Acts Dorothy/Carol Replacement. Off-Broadway: Variety Arts Theatre

– 1997 "The Dragon and the Pearl," by Marty Martin, bio of Pearl S. Buck, commissioned by Cacciotti. The play workshopped at Milford, NH's American Stage Festival and was developed at Chicago's Organic Theatre. (Playbill, 11/16/1998) Later performed at TheaterWorks in Hartford, Connecticut.

1998–1999 All Under Heaven Pearl S. Buck Off-Broadway's Century Center Theatre. Ran November 3, 1998 – January 11, 1999. Played 16 previews and 65 regular performances.
2001–2002 Template:Sortname Marjorie Replacement (July 31, 2001 – May 26, 2002)
2008–2010 Looped Tallulah Bankhead 2010 Tony Award nominee: Best Actress in a Play. Looped ran on Broadway (at the Lyceum Theatre), February 19 – April 11, 2010 for 60 performances.
2015 Nice Work if You Can Get It Millicent Winter Ogunquit Playhouse (Maine) (July 22–29—bowed out after collapsing backstage and being hospitalized. Replaced by Brenda Vaccaro for remaining run through August 15, 2015.)

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Work Result
1971 Primetime Emmy Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series The Mary Tyler Moore Show rowspan=2 Template:Won
1972
Golden Globe Best Supporting Actress — Television Template:Nom
1973 Primetime Emmy Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Template:Won
Golden Globe Best Supporting Actress — Television rowspan=3 Template:Nom
1974 Primetime Emmy Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Golden Globe New Female Star of the Year Freebie and the Bean
Best Actress in a TV Comedy Series Rhoda rowspan=2 Template:Won
1975 Primetime Emmy Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Golden Globe Best Actress in a TV Comedy Series rowspan=6 Template:Nom
1976 Primetime Emmy Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
1977
1978
1979 Golden Globe Best Supporting Actress — Motion Picture Chapter Two
2010 Tony Award Best Actress in a Play Looped

Notes

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