Beloved Television Actress Valerie Harper Has Fallen Into a Coma After Numerous Cancer Diagnoses

By Lawrence Actress Valerie Harper, who you may remember from her iconic role as Rhoda Morgenstern on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and “Rhoda,” has fallen into a coma after being found unconscious backstage at a theater in Maine.

The 75-year-old actress was performing a rendition of the musical “Nice Work If You Can Get It” at the Ogunquit Playhouse in Oqunquit, Maine.

Harper has suffered numerous cancer diagnoses in recent years, including a recent diagnosis of terminal brain cancer in 2013.

There have been discrepancies in reports about her condition, with some media outlets reporting that she had been discharged from the hospital, when she was just transferred to a larger facility for further treatment.

Harper spoke to People in May about her ongoing health struggles:

“I’m ready to go. Maybe that’s the secret. That I’m absolutely – I don’t want to, my God, I want to live to be 102. But I am not banking on anything, really, because we shouldn’t.”
“We don’t know what’s around the corner. I think you just take each day and get the best out of it and do what you can and have fun.”

She has been extremely candid about her health and mortality in recent years. She famously said:

“I really want Americans, and all of us, to be less afraid of death, and know that it’s a passage, but that – don’t go to the funeral before the day of the funeral.”

And:

“We’re all terminal; none of us are getting out of this alive.”

Beginning her career as a Broadway dancer, Harper later won three consecutive Emmy Awards for her performance as Rhoda Morgenstern on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” In her later years she returned to her first love, the stage.

There’s been no official word from the Harper family on her condition.
We wish you well, Valerie.

Image credit: Getty / Frederick M. Brown