Valerie Harper.

Born at Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern, New York on August 22, 1939, Valerie Kathryn Harper grew up in a family of English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, and French descent. Her mother Iva Mildred and father Howard Donald Harper supported her early interest in dance, leading her to join the corps de ballet at Radio City Music Hall. After attending Lincoln High School, she studied at Hunter College and The New School before moving into acting through regional theatre and the Second City comedy troupe.

Valerie Harper first gained national attention as Rhoda Morgenstern on The Mary Tyler Moore Show in 1970, a role that earned her three Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. In 1974 she reprised the character in the spin-off Rhoda, winning an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress and a Golden Globe. The 1974 Rhoda wedding episode set a ratings record. She branched into film with roles in Freebie and the Bean 1974, Chapter Two 1979, and Blame It on Rio 1984, and starred in television movies such as Farrell for the People 1982 on NBC and Don’t Go to Sleep 1982 on ABC. Later she voiced multiple characters on The Simpsons and had guest roles on American Dad!.

Valerie Harper married actor Richard Schaal in 1964; the couple collaborated as writers on an episode of Love, American Style before divorcing in 1978. She later married Tony Cacciotti in 1987, and they remained together until her death. They had one daughter, Cristina Cacciotti, born in 1983. Harper was close friends with actress Michele Lee and had earlier roomed with Arlene Golonka. She dated Peter Horton in the late 1970s. Diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in March 2013, she defied the prognosis, living more than six years and celebrating her 80th birthday eight days before her passing.

Valerie Harper remains the only woman in television history to win an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for a character on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and later win Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for that same character on the spin-off Rhoda. She was named Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year at Harvard in 1975 and received the Jane Fonda Humanitarian Award for her advocacy. Her Rhoda wedding episode remains a landmark TV moment. She is interred at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, near the graves of Mickey Rooney and Chris Cornell. Harper is best remembered as Rhoda Morgenstern, the wisecracking, relatable character who brought warmth and humour to American television.