# Bad news for Valerie Harper **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 6, 2013, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-for-valerie-harper/652188 "2013-03-06T13:52:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-for-valerie-harper/652188/1 "2013-03-06T13:52:21Z")
Valerie Harper (_Mary Tyler Moore Show, Rhoda_) has terminal brain cancer. [Here’s the story](http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2013/03/06/valerie-harper-has-terminal-brain-cancer/1966543/). ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-for-valerie-harper/652188/2 "2013-03-06T14:18:04Z")
Sad news. I hope Sandy Duncan is on call to take over Valerie’s duties once the situation requires it. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-for-valerie-harper/652188/3 "2013-03-06T15:25:00Z")
I know it’s a cliche, but I honestly had no idea Valerie Harper was still alive. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-for-valerie-harper/652188/4 "2013-03-06T15:48:56Z")
Aw, that’s a shame. I loved her work on MTM, what an excellent team they made. I hope she has a peaceful passing. Wish you well, Valerie, you lived a good life and meant a lot to many of us. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-for-valerie-harper/652188/5 "2013-03-06T16:01:16Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > Sad news. I hope Sandy Duncan is on call to take over Valerie’s duties once the situation requires it. And now that her cancer has been mentioned, we shall never speak of her again. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-for-valerie-harper/652188/6 "2013-03-06T16:31:11Z")
> [@bup](#): > > And now that her cancer has been mentioned, we shall never speak of her again. It’s doubtful she will last to 2014, or she would be on the [Celebrity Death Pool](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=674062) for 2014. ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-for-valerie-harper/652188/7 "2013-03-06T18:40:15Z")
A shame. Met her a few years ago. Very nice lady. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-for-valerie-harper/652188/8 "2013-03-06T19:02:53Z")
She seemed genuinely nice. I well remember how hugely popular she was years ago, leading to her spin-off. Very sad news and I hope she’s able to remain comfortable. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-for-valerie-harper/652188/9 "2013-03-06T20:25:25Z")
> [@bup](#): > > And now that her cancer has been mentioned, we shall never speak of her again. On the contrary - somebody has to be the new CNN Poster Woman for Cancer, ever since Farrah Fawcett died (and wouldn’t you know it, the planned Farrah Tribute on Larry King Live that night ended up being cancelled because Michael Jackson died on the same day). ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-for-valerie-harper/652188/10 "2013-03-06T20:40:31Z")
> [@bup](#): > > And now that her cancer has been mentioned, we shall never speak of her again. > [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > On the contrary - somebody has to be the new CNN Poster Woman for Cancer, ever since Farrah Fawcett died (and wouldn’t you know it, the planned Farrah Tribute on Larry King Live that night ended up being cancelled because Michael Jackson died on the same day). Whoosh. Don’t worry, **bup** , I caught what you were throwing down there. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-for-valerie-harper/652188/11 "2013-03-07T00:29:50Z")
loved her on the MTM show & then her own was OK. very sad - and why would she be dead already, she isn’t very old. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![JerseySwamps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9a140/32.png) [@JerseySwamps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerseySwamps)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-for-valerie-harper/652188/12 "2013-03-07T05:42:42Z")
…is not much longer for this world. My favorite VH story is when she was fired from a show that was named after her and replaced with Sandy Duncan. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-for-valerie-harper/652188/13 "2013-03-07T06:37:26Z")
Sadly it looks this time like life has decided to replace her. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-for-valerie-harper/652188/14 "2013-03-07T09:09:17Z")
When _Rhoda_ was cancelled, Valerie Harper was interviewed on Bill Murray’s Celebrity Corner on Weekend Update. Harper (played perfectly by Gilda Radner) claimed that her show was cancelled because of anti-semetism “They don’t like me because I’m a Jew.” Bill Murray had to point out “No, the character Rhoda Morgenstern is Jewish but you, Valerie Harper are not Jewish” . . . which got the response “I’m not? Then why do I talk this way???” Gilda Radner was awesome. Looking at Harper’s wiki page, it says that she starred on the show _Valerie_ for two seasons before getting fired. I could have sworn it was only the first season. That really was a bizzare bit of behind the scenes drama. It seemed inconceivable that a star, _for whom the show was a vehicle and for whom the show was NAMED_, would be fired- her character killed- and the show would go on. Maintaining a light sitcomy mood on the show despite _killing the mom_ should, theoretically, never have worked. Audiences had apparently taken to the supporting cast enough that it worked, but it was a bizzare occurrence. Looks like she’s done plenty of theater work over the past decade. Wiki says her original cancer diagnosis was in 2009, but she starred in a play from its 2008 premiere in Pasadena all the way through to its 2010 run on Broadway. So, apparently she was determined not to let the diagnosis slow her down. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-for-valerie-harper/652188/15 "2013-03-07T09:25:33Z")
Valerie Harper was one of those actresses whose work I always enjoyed, but whose career I never really followed when she was out of the spotlight. Last year, Mom passed away from a different sort of brain tumor, which fortunately progressed painlessly for four months. I hope Valerie’s ordeal is as peaceful & painless as Mom’s was. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-for-valerie-harper/652188/16 "2013-03-07T09:40:47Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > I never really followed when she was out of the spotlight. Same for me, although I’m kinda regretting that in the case of [the play she was working on from 2008 to 2010.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Looped) [QUOTE=The Plot of the Play from the synopsis on Wiki] Based on a real event, _Looped_ takes place in the summer of 1965, when an inebriated Tallulah Bankhead needed eight hours to redub (or “loop”, whose double meaning provides the show’s title) one line of dialogue for her last movie, _Die! Die! My Darling!_. [/QUOTE] That just sounds awesome- even moreso with Harper playing Tallulah Bankhead. I easily could have seen the Pasadena production had I been paying attention. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-for-valerie-harper/652188/17 "2013-03-07T10:10:49Z")
[There’s already a thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=684365) ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-for-valerie-harper/652188/18 "2013-03-07T14:31:45Z")
Merged duplicate threads. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-for-valerie-harper/652188/19 "2013-03-08T01:12:18Z")
[QUOTE=bienville] That just sounds awesome- even moreso with Harper playing Tallulah Bankhead. I easily could have seen the Pasadena production had I been paying attention. [/QUOTE] Possibly Not Safe For Work clips of [Valerie](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zxm4O-BICWI&feature=share)[as](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVxSJEdRYVc)[Tallulah](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5c0uPVG5Bk). ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-for-valerie-harper/652188/20 "2013-03-08T01:30:44Z")
That was great **Sampiro** , especially the first clip. Thanks for sharing! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bad-news-for-valerie-harper/652188.md?page=2)