Wisecracking sidekick for Mary
Valerie Harper Comedy actress BORN AUGUST 22, 1939 – DIED AUGUST 30, 2019, AGED 80
VALERIE Harper was the breakout star of The Mary Tyler Moore Show whose lovable character Rhoda Morgenstern proved so popular it earned Harper her own comedy spin-off Rhoda from 1974 to 1978.
As the sidekick to upfront Mary, Rhoda’s wisecracks were always at her own expense, whether about her love life or her weight.
In one quip, when eating a candy bar, she said: “I don’t know why I should bother to eat this. I should just apply it directly to my hips.”
Born on August 22, 1939,Valerie was raised in the village of Suffern near New York into a non-showbusiness family.
Her father’s job as a travelling salesman saw her constantly on the move and she channelled her energy into dancing, becoming a chorus girl on Broadway.
“I’d seen Moira Shearer in The Red Shoes and I wanted to be a ballerina,” she told the Daily Express. “However, after a while I thought that was a dead end, so I paid for acting lessons.” After marrying actor Richard Schaal, Valerie moved to Los Angeles in 1969 and won a part on The Mary Tyler Moore Show a year later.
Over four series, she racked up three Emmys and was nominated for three Golden Globes, before moving on to Rhoda, winning her first Golden Globe and another Emmy.
Valerie later featured in many movies but her film career never reached the dizzy heights of her most famous TV part.
She published her autobiography I, Rhoda in 2013. Shortly afterwards she announced she only had three months to live after a lung cancer diagnosis despite being a lifelong non-smoker. But she would go on to outlive her co-star and good friend Mary Tyler Moore, who died aged 80 on January 25, 2017.
Valerie is survived by her second husband,Tony Cacciotti, and her daughter Cristina.