Valerie Harper, the actress who was best known for her roles on Rhoda and The Mary Tyler Moore Show, died Friday morning at the age of 80 after a battle with cancer, her family confirmed to ABC7 Los Angeles.
Harper publicly disclosed that she had been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in 2013, but the actress continued to perform on television and various productions.
She competed on Dancing With the Stars in fall 2013 shortly after her diagnosis and participated in a production of Nice Work if You Can Get It while ill.
Harper talked positively about her prognosis and ways she could help people going through similar illnesses in an interview with People in May 2015.
“Maybe because I’m working or I’m talking about cancer in a positive way. I think that might have something to do with it,” Harper said.
“When I wake up in the morning I don’t say ‘Oh, I have cancer. I say ‘Another day. How you feeling? Good? Good. And when I do have little twinges of something I go, ‘Oh my god, is that a headache? What is that?’ And I say wait a day or two, it might just be a headache and usually it is— so far,” she added.
Harper landed her award-winning role of window dresser Rhoda Morgenstern on The Mary Tyler Moore Show in 1970. She won three Emmys for Best Supporting Actress before launching her own spin-off titled Rhoda in 1974.
She won her fourth Emmy and a Golden Globe in 1975 for Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.
