Actress had a long fight with brain cancer

American sitcom star Valerie Harper has died at the age of 80 after battling brain cancer.

The actress came to fame playing Rhoda Morgenstern on The Mary Tyler Moore Show – for which she won three consecutive Emmys for best supporting actress.

Then the character had her own spin-off series, Rhoda, which ran from 1974-78. 

She returned to sitcom in 1986 when she played family matriarch Valerie Hogan on the NBC series Valerie – but despite having hte title role she was fired at the end of its second season. She sued and was awarded $1.4 million plus 12.5 percent of the show's profits as it continued without her.

Harper revealed her diagnosis in 2013, saying doctors had told her she had as little as three months to live.  She had previously conquered lung cancer.

Her other credits include Desperate Housewives, Sex And The City and Dancing With The Stars, and she wrote her memoirs in 2013.

Published: 31 Aug 2019