Valerie Harper, who nabbed four Emmys playing Rhoda on The Mary Tyler Moore Show in the late ’60 and early ’70s before venturing off into her own spin-off show, has been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, according to reports from People magazine.
Doctors claim she may have as little as three months to live, but one former co-star refuses to see it that way.
Ed Asner, who co-starred alongside Harper on the MTM show, reportedly told New York Daily News that in addition to getting to know Harper more over the last few years, he has "every confidence in the world that she will shock the hell out of us and survive to keep functioning as the great talent and human that she is."
Here's to that.
Back in January Harper, 73, sat down with ABC to chat up her memoir (see video), "I, Rhoda," in which she reflects back on her many years in show business, but she was not fully aware of her condition at the time.
Now Harper has confirmed that she has leptomeningeal carcinomatosis. It's a rare condition and transpires when cancer cells spread into the fluid-filled membrane surrounding the brain. The icon noted that her road to discovery began when she had what seemed like modest health concerns during rehearsals for her one-woman show "Looped" a few months ago.
She told People magazine that she was stunned about her condition but immediately thought that by sharing it, it could both raise the level of awareness about cancer and usher in funds for even more cancer research.
Harper is currently undergoing chemotherapy.
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