Valerie Harper Pulls Out of Looped Tour

Battled Lung Cancer a few years ago and now has had to cancel the Broadway show tour and her autobiography book tour. Get Well Valerie!

http%3A//www.playbill.com/news/article/174463-Valerie-Harper-Pulls-Out-of-Looped-Tour-Stefanie-Powers-Will-Play-Tallulah-Bankhead



• Sending healthy wishes to Valerie Harper. Tullulah, Rhoda...you're the best!

• Very few survive lung cancer unless lucky enough to be caught early and removed surgically-

  charlie

• This is truly devastating to hear. Valerie Harper is one of those rare actresses, like another 70s sitcom legend, Sally Struthers, about whom the cliche is true...no one in the industry has a bad thing to say about her. A joyous spirit whom everyone loves. MTM must be reeling from this news.

• According to her new autobiography she kept it a secret because she was doing Tallulah on Broadway and didn't want the audience to be distracted, like "Oh she looks good for having Cancer". She was going on a book tour before the "Looped" tour.

• This is terrible, I worked with Valerie Harper years ago and she was the nicest person ever. I wish all celebs could be as lovely as she was. I hope she can recover from this.

• You gonna tell me after all these years that MTM has been sick and Val would pass before Mary? Odd Hope she gets better real soon

  Ida

• Valerie, who is a lifelong non-smoker, was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2009 and had part of one lung removed. Unfortunately it sounds like the cancer's back. This is awful news.

• Valerie Harper isn't just MTM's best friend, she's everyone's best friend. She's another bright light who could turn the world on with her smile. Damn, this is such sad news. We love you, Rhoda.

• I sat next to her at an industry dinner a year ago. A few colleagues and I were professional and friendly till dessert. Then one of us started showering her with profusive compliments and the rest of us soon followed. Then, we began reciting past Rhoda lines. "I have to lose 30 lbs. by 8:30." "This is my date, Mr. and Mrs. Armand Linden." Valerie laughed and smiled as if she was hearing them for the second time. She could not have been more gracious or kind and appreciative. I wish her a speedy recovery.

• I've observed all the cringing over time about the poster at R2 and his inane pronouncements, but here I can see very clearly why comments are provoked. One must wonder about the motivations underlying such constant, gratuitous blather.

• It didn't mention in the linked article that Stephanie Powers co-starred with Tallulah Bankhead in Die! Die! My Darling!

• [quote]No one in the industry has a bad thing to say about her Oh I can think of a few things

  Wendy%20Schaal

• So the lung cancer was a secret until now? Because it's weird that it never came up in the lengthy thread about her book a month ago.

•  

• R2 = Phyllis Lindstrom.

• [quote] no one in the industry has a bad thing to say about her. You obviously have not talked to the production team from the TV series "Full House" and "Family Matters"

• Val wrote in her biography she lost THREE mothers to lung cancer. Her mother, her step-mother and her TV mother (Nancy Walker). All were NON-smokers. Now it is Val's turn.

• [quote]no one in the industry has a bad thing to say about her. Who are you calling no one?

  Melissa "Shitbra" Gilbert

• WEHT to Bess Gerritsen?

• Get well Valerie! I'm angry that this wonderful lady is so sick and never smoked. I would love to know how so many non-smokers get lung cancer.

  feel better dear

• R17, I know for a fact that Nancy Walker was a smoker.

• Did I miss something where it is stated that the lung cancer has returned? I saw Valerie on Good Morning America just last week where she stated she had, indeed, passed out at rehearsal and had been in the hospital and was WAITING for test results. Just what the articles say. She said she had to postone her book tour but that everything was just pushed back, pending the results. This is not good news that she has now cancelled EVERYTHING, but could it be something ELSE? I mean, I could not find anywhere in any of the press releases or stories that the CANCER had returned. Of course, that seems the most likely but, damn, how I love her. How I wish it were anything but cancer. Guess I just have some shred of hope.

• [quote]I would love to know how so many non-smokers get lung cancer. Some scientists are making a connection between lung cancer and giving oral sex.

• Kindest person I've ever had the pleasure to meet. A joy. Get better Val. You're the best.

• [quote] I would love to know how so many non-smokers get lung cancer. They likely were exposed to second-hand smoke on a regular basis.

• And why is that among the non-smoking class of those with lung cancer the heavy majority are women?

• Lung cancer among lifelong non-smokers is on the rise, and many of them have never had any significant exposure to secondhand smoke either. It's baffling. I really hope Valerie gets better.

• There are chemicals and environmental factors that can cause lung cancer even among the non-smokers.

• "Some scientists are making a connection between lung cancer and giving oral sex." That'd throat cancer, not lung.

• Christopher Reeve's widow Dana was a non-smoker and went really fast after her diagnosis.

• Donna Summer also had lung cancer and she wasn't a smoker.

• [quote]Christopher Reeve's widow Dana was a non-smoker and went really fast after her diagnosis. Dana Reeve believed that she got it from performing in smoky nightclubs for a big part of her career. There were talk that privately, Dana was a smoker. [quote]Donna Summer also had lung cancer and she wasn't a smoker. Someone posted a youtube video of Donna Summer from the late 70's smoking in the recording studio. [quote]Some scientists are making a connection between lung cancer and giving oral sex. That is oral cancer and it mostly affects the tonsils and base of the tongue. HPV related oral cancer is much easier to treat and the survival chances are much better then they are for people whose oral cancer came from tobacco use.

• I, Radiation

• You can bet that Val has been around smokers a lot over her long career. Back before the laws changed and public awareness changed. Think about all those rehearsal halls and nightclubs she was in. All those productions where people probably smoked like chimneys backstage. Also, performers are exposed to a lot of lung irritants over the years, including PAINT from sets and hairspray and make-up toxic fumes from enclosed dressing rooms with poor ventilation. For decades. Who knows who smoked on the Mary Tyler Moore show? I can vouch for the toxicity of backstage theatres, being an actor, myself. A freshly painted set is awful! And you have to not only rehearse on one newly painted but then PERFORM HOT LIGHTS before all the fumes go away, which just bakes it into your very pores! The show must go on. Sets have last minute details completed clear up until showtime, and that includes painting or shellacing or even sanding, which leaves sawdust up your nose. I just wonder if this is from the cumulative effects of a lifetime in show business...in her lungs.

• [quote] Who knows who smoked on the Mary Tyler Moore show? Well Mary for one, as she was a chain smoker, even during rehearsals.

• Ed Asner and Ted Knight also smoked. I don't think Betty White has ever been a smoker.

• John Amos used to smoke, but not cigarettes...hahaha

  John Paul Seponski

• R37 so John Amos smoked Cigars?

• r32, yes the YouTube video confirmed that Donna had been a smoker for a little over 10 yrs, presumably she started in the late 60s. But she did mentioned that she had quit when she was on Tom Snyder in 1981. And her family is adamant that she wasn't a smoker. It's doubtful that her smoking 1970s smoking caused her cancer over 30 yrs later.

• [quote]"Some scientists are making a connection between lung cancer and giving oral sex." That's throat cancer, not lung. "Having HPV was associated with more than a 30 percent increased risk for lung cancer. Though it’s known that HPV can reach the lungs, further research is needed to determine if the virus can actually cause lung cancer."

  http://blogs.menshealth.com/health-headlines/heads-up/2011/04/05

• R11, look again. Paragraph 4. And OP, you don't capitalize lung cancer.

• PRESS RELEASE - January 29 2013 To My Dear Fans, Thank you for your concern but I am fine. I'm taking a little time off to help plan for my dear friend Melissa Gilbert's wedding. I thought I could do the tour and help my friend, but, well, my friend is a little 'high maintenance.' Once again, everything is just fine. I love you all. Love, Val

  Valerie Harper

• There are several types of small cell lung ca that have nothing to do with cigarettes, first second, or third hand. For many solid tumors, the lungs are first or second for mets.

• Estrogen. There's a fair amount of research that links estrogen to the kinds of lung cancers that non-smokers get. That's why so many more women non-smokers get lung cancer than men who don't smoke.

• Sad

• Oh god, that statement means she's dying.

• I met Valerie in the Obama headquarters in Santa Monica in 2008 when I sat next to her making phone calls to get out the vote right before the election. She was a very nice, down-to-earth lady. It was fun to hear her call people and say who she was. If I remember, a fair number of them knew did know her by name. I never knew she was diagnosed with cancer a year later. She seemed happy and healthy when I met her. Very sad news. Hope she's gonna be ok!

• Love her. Sweet lady.

• Get Well Valerie!!! You're hysterical!!!!!!

  http://youtu.be/Zxm4O-BICWI

• Love her. Loved her book. Pick it up. Wishing her well. She's brought a lot of joyful distraction into my life.

• Yes, get well soon, Val!!!

• Will Betty White outlive yet another co-star?

• Met her at Chiller Theatre last fall. She was warm, funny and friendly. Here's hoping she gets through this!

• Am I the only person who knows her from the sitcom Valerie? It wasn't until years later when channel surfing I saw her on a rerun of Mary Tyler Moore show and I was like that's Valerie Hogan! I never knew she was on a TV show before Valerie.

  not%20an%20eldergay

• My doctor told me that if you were exposed to a lot of cigarette smoke as a child - ie, if one of your parents smoked - you are much more likely to develop lung cancer as an adult, even if you've never smoked yourself. It's something about the exposure at such a young age. When Lisa Kirk (from Kiss me Kate) died of lung cancer at 65, the NY Times article said she got it from performing in smoky nightclubs for so many years.

• Rhoda was an iconic role, though, r54, whereas Valerie Hogan wasn't (and of course, she only did it for a season). Rhoda had a specific "look" and "humor" that really caught on, which is what made her so popular.

• As much as I loved the Rhoda character & her relationship with Mary, the early years of the show didn't age as well as the post-Rhoda years.

• I thought the show hit its stride in year three while Rhoda was still in Minneapolis. The beauty pageant episode is one of my favorites.

• No worries, people. Valerie will be just fine. I will be taking her place for the remainder of the tour. See you soon.

  Love, Sandy Duncan

• I went to her book signing in LA. Everyone left thinking they'd made a new friend; and, in a way, they had. She was gracious, inviting, kind, posed for photos and signed each and every book. Class act.

• Jason Bateman hated her. Sandy Duncan was a bitch to take her job.

• I love how people who are NOT scientists or doctors self-diagnose where their cancer came from. I really think all this "second-hand smoke" hysteria is backed by precious little science. Paint fumes from a painted Broadway set "literally baking into your pores"!? Hilarious. Broadway shows don't use huge walls of painted muslin flats, but high schools do! Lots of cancers come from genetics, age and other factors unrelated to smoking. I heard Dana Reeve was a smoker but preferred the news not get out. She already had planned her very worthy foundation and wanted to protect it, I imagine. I posted this two weeks ago in another thread, I never saw this thread until now. Still so sad. "Here's some gossip. Really really sad gossip. You might have heard Valerie Harper dropped out of her tour of the Tallulah Bankhead play "Looped" because of illness and is being replaced by Stephanie Powers. The truth is poor Valerie is very ill with a brain cancer/tumor which has already spread to her spine. Inoperable. Four to six months. So sad." by: Anonymous reply 219 02/03/2013 @ 07:24PM

• I love her. My thoughts are with sweet Valerie at this time.

  JJ

• Huff Po reports it's almost time for her.

• Tough break Sophia. One day you're entertaining the masses, the next you're back on a foot covering a corn pad. Now you know how Valerie Harper feels

  Sophia%20Petrillo

• [quote] Sandy Duncan was a bitch to take her job. Sandy Duncan said if she didn't take the job, someone else would have. She also said it is a great tradition in the theater for one actress to replace another.

• I just finished "I, Rhoda" last night (got it from the library the day before -- it's a quick read). She seems like a genuinely lovely person: cheerful and slightly self-deprecating throughout, without ever coming off as a phony good girl. Full of praise for just about everyone she ever met, though she doesn't even mention the SAG elections and skips over much of the drama backstage at the "Valerie" sitcom. When she repeats how lucky she feels she's been in life, it feels honest, not like a pose of false modesty. The most interesting thing in the book was the info that in the original pilot, Rhoda was supposed to be Mary's frenemy, while Phyllis was Mary's friend. The test audiences hated it (Valerie says "They hated me for being mean to Mary"), and apparently Cloris Leachman had already begun exploring Phyllis' vain, flighty side. So they shot the pilot again, with Phyllis as the condescending bitch and a toned-down Rhoda, put in a line where Bess talked about how nice Rhoda was under her prickly exterior, and the audience loved it. I really hope she doesn't have brain cancer.

• [quote]Then, we began reciting past Rhoda lines. [quote]"I have to lose 30 lbs. by 8:30." [quote]"This is my date, Mr. and Mrs. Armand Linden." My own personal favorite: "Allow me to introduce myself: Rhoda Morgenstern... I'm another person in the room." (Her character really brought out the very best in the MTM writers.)

• [quote]You might have heard Valerie Harper dropped out of her tour of the Tallulah Bankhead play "Looped" because of illness [bold]and is being replaced by Stephanie Powers.[/bold] OK, now [bold]that[/bold] would be something I would [bold]desperately[/bold] want to see.

  though%20perhaps%20for%20the%20wrong%20reasons

• It's very common -- brain tumor a lung cancer metastasis.

• I got it slightly wrong--the actual quotation (I looked it up): "Allow me to introduce myself, I'm another person in the room -- Rhoda Morgenstern."

  r68

• [regarding a piece of candy] "I don't know why I'm putting this in my mouth. I should just apply it directly to my hips."

• [quote]Val wrote in her biography she lost THREE mothers to lung cancer. Her mother, her step-mother and her TV mother (Nancy Walker). All were NON-smokers. Nancy Walker was a smoker.

• Bless you r71, that quote makes me laugh every time.

• My paternal grandparents both smoked. Their children, my father and my aunt, both smoked. My father died of lung cancer at age 66. My aunt died at age 91 of a gastrointestinal infection which caused sepsis. She had no cancer or heart disease. She'd quit smoking the year before she died. It's a crapshoot.

• r51, elaborate

• What a way to spend your last days on earth--doing umpteen appearances on Access Hollywood.

• It's her life, and death. I love a performer who gives the audience what they want. We loved Valerie but hadn't seen her in years, now we want to see her one last time. We are curious about her condition and she tells us.

• [quote] So they shot the pilot again, with Phyllis as the condescending bitch and a toned-down Rhoda, put in a line where Bess talked about how nice Rhoda was under her prickly exterior, and the audience loved it. Yes but that's also because Jewish characters were rare on tv at the time. They had to soften Rhoda also because of the audience's antisemitism. That's how it was explained in the show's True Hollywood Story episode.

• [quote]They had to soften Rhoda also because of the audience's antisemitism. Wasn't it anti-semitic of them to cast a non-Jew in a Jewish role? Would a real Jewish actress have been "too Jewish" for the self-loathing suits at CBS?

• So why is she appearing on every tabloid show known to man? Does her family need the cash? Did she blow her earnings on something not-so-smart over the years?