Valerie Harper

Valerie Harper
Harper in 1974
Born	Valerie Kathryn Harper (1939-08-22)August 22, 1939 Suffern, New York, U.S.
Died	August 30, 2019(2019-08-30) (aged 80) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting place	Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Los Angeles[1]
Occupations	Actress comedian dancer writer
Years active	1956–2019
Spouses	Richard Schaal ​ ​ (m. 1964; div. 1978)​ Tony Cacciotti ​ (m. 1987)​
Children	1
Website	Official website

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.^[2] She is best remembered for her role as Rhoda Morgenstern on The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970–1977) and its spinoff Rhoda (1974–1978). For her work on Mary Tyler Moore, she thrice received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series, 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.