https://abc7.com/entertainment/actress-valerie-harper-dies-at-80-family-says/5503817/


Actress Valerie Harper, best known for her roles in "Rhoda" and "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," has died at age 80, her family says.

Her family confirmed the actress died at 10:06 a.m. Friday. The cause of death was not immediately disclosed but she had been treated for cancer since 2009.

Harper first came to fame for her role as Rhoda Morgenstern on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and then the character was spun off to her own sitcom, "Rhoda," in the late 1970s.

She won four Emmys and a Golden Globe for her work in those two shows.

Harper returned to TV in 1986 as the lead in the sitcom "Valerie," though she left the show after the second season in a contract dispute.

A beautiful woman, a wonderful actress, a great friend and with balls bigger than mine. Her brilliance burst through and shined its light upon all of us. Goodnight beautiful. I’ll see you soon. pic.twitter.com/FicADkSAzS

— Ed Asner (@TheOnlyEdAsner) August 30, 2019


Ed Asner, who costarred on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," paid tribute to Harper on Twitter: "A beautiful woman, a wonderful actress, a great friend and with balls bigger than mine. Her brilliance burst through and shined its light upon all of us. Goodnight beautiful. I'll see you soon."

Even when she was down she danced and showed the world that she refused to let cancer beat her. Now Rhoda is with Mary in heaven. RIP Valerie Harper. You were the epitome of strength and humor. 😢🤟🏻 pic.twitter.com/CEGWl4hfhA

— Marlee Matlin (@MarleeMatlin) August 30, 2019


Through the course of a television, film and theater career that spanned nearly seven decades, Harper was nominated for eight Emmys, winning four; and nominated for six Golden Globes, winning one. She was also nominated for a best actress Tony in 2010 for her role in the play "Looped."

After publicly disclosing her cancer diagnosis, Harper continued to work on television and stage well into her 70s.

In recent years she had roles on shows such as "2 Broke Girls" and "The Simpsons" and in 2013 appeared as a contestant on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars."

Earlier that year, she had said her doctors had given her only months to live, but she later responded well to treatment.

In a contemplative mood, she reflected on the subject of death at that time in an interview with KABC's George Pennacchio.

"We would not have life without death," Harper said. "It is a passage, it's part of life. That's what I've come to realize."

We all knew it was coming, but that doesn't make it any less sadder.

RIP Valerie Harper

RIP Valerie Harper :(

:( Very sad she passed away..

:rip: But am so glad that she's no longer in pain or suffering. But I feel very much for her family and loved ones, this must be a very tough time for them. She will be dearly missed.

So sad. Rest In Peace, darling. Your talents were immeasurable and you will never be forgotten.

:rip:

:rip: But am so glad that she's no longer in pain or suffering. But I feel very much for her family and loved ones, this must be a very tough time for them. She will be dearly missed.


Very well said, Svenfan ! I feel the same way !!

We all knew it was coming, but that doesn't make it any less sadder.

RIP Valerie Harper


I know!!! :( And on Hot in Cleveland on GetTV , all the ladies from the Mary Tyler Moore show were in an episode today ( Valerie Harper, Mary Tyler Moore, Cloris Leachman , and Betty White and Georgia Engel who were regulars) !

Very cool ep. And ironic that they ran it today !

RIP to one of my favorite actresses. I posted my tribute to her on my blog: http://benjamonsterstv.blogspot.com/2019/08/in-memoriam-valerie-harper-1939-2019.html

She was terrific every which way and I’ll miss her a lot. R.I.P. Valerie

I wondered why there were so many tributes to her today. I honestly thought that she had passed away a while ago but now I remember that she had been very ill a few years ago but had recovered. She will be missed.

Valerie was a superb actress. She fought the good fight and will be missed.

RIP Valerie Harper.

Such great talent.

Antenna TV
September 1, Sunday
Valerie Marathon 1:00pm-10:00pm.

Me TV
September 8, Sunday 5:00pm-8:00pm.

5:00pm-7:00pm The Mary Tyler Moore episodes/Rhoda on them.
7:00pm-8:00pm Rhoda

R.I.P. Valerie. You're with your best pal Mary.

Such great talent.

Antenna TV
September 1, Sunday
Valerie Marathon 1:00pm-10:00pm.

Me TV
September 8, Sunday 5:00pm-8:00pm.

5:00pm-7:00pm The Mary Tyler Moore episodes/Rhoda on them.
7:00pm-8:00pm Rhoda



I will be watching ! ! ;)

RIP Valerie Harper. :(

Rest in peace Valerie. :(

Besides “Rhoda Morgenstern”, what other roles were Valerie Harper noted for?

Besides “Rhoda Morgenstern”, what other roles were Valerie Harper noted for?

Valerie Hogan

I think VH was done wrong in her career. First, CBS screwed up “Rhoda”, then she got sacked from her NBC sitcom “Valerie”. If you are a lead actor or actress, how do you protect yourself from these things?

I thought Valerie Harper and Ed Asner didn't like each other?

Ed.

I thought Valerie Harper and Ed Asner didn't like each other?

Ed.

Asner hado nothing to do with Harper’s problems on her other shows.

I think VH was done wrong in her career. First, CBS screwed up “Rhoda”...

If you're referring to having Rhoda and Joe separate, I totally agree! "Rhoda" was riding high in the ratings (#7) for season 2, and season 3 sank to #32.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I think VH was done wrong in her career. First, CBS screwed up “Rhoda”, then she got sacked from her NBC sitcom “Valerie”. If you are a lead actor or actress, how do you protect yourself from these things?


CBS did not screw up Rhoda. The producers were having trouble creating scripts for a married Rhoda, so breaking them up was a solution and CBS went along with it. I have heard different accounts where Valerie wanted the scripts to feature her character more often, rather than having numerous "Brenda" scripts. This also could have led to the format change. On the other hand I had heard that she was fine with scripts featuring stories about Brenda.

Valerie was wrongfully fired from "Valerie" which was very unexpected and unusual to occur at the time. She sued the production company and won.

With all due respect to both Schmo and stevea it's naive to believe Harper was not well aware and fully on board with the series change in direction, in fact she may have promoted it. A few months ago there was a discussion in the Rhoda thread relevant to this discussion (in fact stevea posted on the topic). Here were my comments concerning the direction change that took place:

The public story on what transpired doesn't add up. The producers always become the bad guys in these situations, the star has to keep their hands clean (that goes with the territory). Harper was no wallflower, she made additional salary demands between the first and second season of Rhoda, and we all know what went on with respect to her next series, Valerie. Harper was not only the star of Rhoda, but the series was a top 10 smash the first two seasons. Producers are business people, you don't start making major changes to a show that is a hit with the audience without full knowledge and approval of the star. There was a story Suzanne Pleshette would tell, she called Bob Newhart to discuss a change in direction under consideration for The Bob Newhart Show. The plan for the next season was for the couple to have a baby on the series, Bob responded to her, who are they planning to cast in the role of Bob next season, long story short, no baby. In addition to Harper, the network has a seat at the table and the network people tend to be very conservative, and they would normally be very reluctant to fool with such a popular series in this manner. Keep in mind the fact that while there had been other divorced characters on TV before (Lou Grant and his wife for example), the audience had been with this couple since the beginning, and this couple was the main focus of the show. I don't think the network would have OK'd it without the star not only on board but maybe pushing the angle.

Divorce is a very depressing topic to introduce into a comedy series, and to have it play out in real time, the series never recovered from it. I know David Groh wasn't funny, and it probably would have been better for Rhoda to be single and unattached from the start of the series, but the series was so successful in the first two seasons, the solution turned out to be a cure that was worse than the disease.

Very informative and makes a lot of sense! I remember this topic in the Rhoda forum--just don't remember that post.

Yes the first 2 seasons were a smash, and 50 million people saw the wedding. Unheard of audience today.

I vaguely remember the Bob Newhart story--I can just imagine him saying that.

I never did remember what happened when she left The Hogan Family. I didn't watch the show or followed what happened. . Did she demand more money, or better screen time, better hours to work. what was it.? Was the show named for her first and then change. I did read her character died in car crash.

I never did remember what happened when she left The Hogan Family. I didn't watch the show or followed what happened. . Did she demand more money, or better screen time, better hours to work. what was it.? Was the show named for her first and then change. I did read her character died in car crash.

This is allegedly what happened .
https://www.macleans.ca/uncategorized/the-20th-anniversary-of-the-most-awesomest-tv-contract-dispute-ever/

With all due respect to both Schmo and stevea it's naive to believe Harper was not well aware and fully on board with the series change in direction, in fact she may have promoted it. A few months ago there was a discussion in the Rhoda thread relevant to this discussion (in fact stevea posted on the topic). Here were my comments concerning the direction change that took place:

The public story on what transpired doesn't add up. The producers always become the bad guys in these situations, the star has to keep their hands clean (that goes with the territory). Harper was no wallflower, she made additional salary demands between the first and second season of Rhoda, and we all know what went on with respect to her next series, Valerie. Harper was not only the star of Rhoda, but the series was a top 10 smash the first two seasons. Producers are business people, you don't start making major changes to a show that is a hit with the audience without full knowledge and approval of the star. There was a story Suzanne Pleshette would tell, she called Bob Newhart to discuss a change in direction under consideration for The Bob Newhart Show. The plan for the next season was for the couple to have a baby on the series, Bob responded to her, who are they planning to cast in the role of Bob next season, long story short, no baby. In addition to Harper, the network has a seat at the table and the network people tend to be very conservative, and they would normally be very reluctant to fool with such a popular series in this manner. Keep in mind the fact that while there had been other divorced characters on TV before (Lou Grant and his wife for example), the audience had been with this couple since the beginning, and this couple was the main focus of the show. I don't think the network would have OK'd it without the star not only on board but maybe pushing the angle.

Divorce is a very depressing topic to introduce into a comedy series, and to have it play out in real time, the series never recovered from it. I know David Groh wasn't funny, and it probably would have been better for Rhoda to be single and unattached from the start of the series, but the series was so successful in the first two seasons, the solution turned out to be a cure that was worse than the disease.
Here’s a defense of tampering with “Rhoda”.
https://tv.avclub.com/how-the-producers-of-rhoda-killed-the-show-by-making-it-1798237500

Schmo, thanks for the link, I have to say the writer has a rather unique way of presenting a case. There are a couple of seemingly factual errors, Rhoda feel from 6 to 7 (not 8) between year one and two, I thing the primary difference is the wedding episode so the ratings remained unchanged. Then there is this and where in God's name did this come from:

"In addition, Harper, a trained stage actress, possessed a wildly different energy from Moore; she was earthy where Moore was slightly flighty".
Flighty means fickle and irresponsible, if there is one word I would never use to describe Moore or Mary Richards is flighty!

The writer mentions Lorenzo Music, but I don't how he could have been involved with the storylines in 1976 (season 3), Music and his wife were off on their own project in 1976 and that project was the Lorenzo and Henrietta Music Show, a 5 day, 90 minutes a day talk show. The program ran in most markets in the afternoon (my market it ran against the Tonight show). The program was a miserable failure running about 13 weeks (fall if 76).

You linked another article on Valerie (a much better article) which addresses the problems on that series. I think there is a definite similarity between the two situations. Harper wanted her character to be the comedic focus of both series and she wasn't. Brenda was funny, Ida was funny, Nick Lobo was funny, Martin was funny, Rhoda not so much.

It's not all Valerie's fault, obviously the production company and the network were at the table, and all three probably saw David Groh as being miscast in a comedy series (he just wasn't funny). And the production company was responsible for casting Groh, he was the Dick Sargent of the 70's.

My final point, Valerie was no victim here, she should have worked with the production team to get the most out of the series that was on the air.

The 2nd article was excellent, offering real insights into the problem. Rhoda's married--now where do we go? Making a course-correction actually made sense, but the miscalculation was in how it was done and rejection by the TV audience. Also, lack of good characters outside the family. Mary built a good base of outside characters (e.g. Sue Ann and Georgette) and built very interesting storylines around them (Sue Ann panting after Lou, Georgette and Ted's romance/marriage). But this was missing in Rhoda. Not that they didn't try--Nick and Lenny were interesting characters but didn't really take off--they could have done more with either of them and Brenda. I found Johnny Venture pretty funny, but they could have done more with him and Rhoda.

Another problem was Rhoda's jobs. They never found a workplace that clicked, IMO. I found that Jack guy pretty annoying. Generally the workplace was very weak, especially compared to Mary's.

And as mentioned before, losing Nancy Walker and Harold Gould really was a problem. Especially Nancy, some really great comedy built around her.

Just some on-the-fly thoughts. But there is much-better analysis than mine.

The logical solution would have been to have the characters marry on the series finale.

You can not promote Rhoda and Joe's wedding as the wedding of the century and then break them up 2 years later. The audience felt cheated.

The logical solution would have been to have the characters marry on the series finale.

Yeah they could have drawn out Joe/Rhoda thru the whole series, make it on again/off again. Kind of like they did with Robert and Amy on Everybody Loves Raymond--they met in season 1 and finally married in season 7.

Very sad :(