Valerie Harper passed away today 8 days after her 80th birtday from a long battle with a rare type of brain cancer accoding to The Washington Post.
The actress is best known for playing Rhoda Morgenstern on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Rhoda. She was a wise cracking, fearless, independent woman, you could not help but to love. Since I am a girl from The Bronx, I grew up wanting to be her. In some ways, I am lot like Rhoda.
Before she became one of the biggest television stars of the ’70s, she starred on Broadway. After Rhoda, she still did plays, starred in a few more televsion shows along with many telemovies and movies.
She never stopped acting even when she started having health issues. In 2009, she was diagnosed with lung cancer. She beat it. However, in 2013, she was revealed she was suffering from leptomeningeal carcinomatosis and was told she had 6 months to live. Thanks to experimental treatments, 6 months turned into 6 years.
Today, let’s remember her with a huge smile, one as big as hers. I know I will be doing that.
