Valerie Harper Net Worth

What was Valerie Harper's Net Worth?

Valerie Harper was an American actress who had a net worth of $500 thousand at the time of her death in 2019. Valerie Harper was best known for playing Rhoda Morgenstern on the CBS television sitcom "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and its spinoff "Rhoda," a role that earned her four Emmy Awards in total. Among her many other credits, she appeared in such films as "Freebie and the Bean" and "Chapter Two," starred on the sitcom "Valerie," and portrayed Tallulah Bankhead in a Tony Award-nominated role in the Broadway play "Looped." Valerie Harper died on August 30, 2019 at the age of 80.

Early Life and Education

Valerie Harper was born on August 22, 1939 in Suffern, New York to Iva, a teacher from Canada, and Howard, a traveling lighting salesman. She had a sister named Leanne and a brother named Merrill, and later had a half-sister from her father's second marriage. Harper lived in various places during her childhood due to the work of her father, including Massachusetts, New Jersey, California, Michigan, and Oregon. After graduating from junior high school in Oregon, she moved with her family back to New Jersey, where she attended Lincoln High School. Harper graduated from the private Young Professionals School on West 56th Street.

Career Beginnings

Harper got her start in show business as a dancer and chorus girl on Broadway. She also had uncredited parts in the musical films "Rock, Rock, Rock!" (1956) and "Li'l Abner" (1959), the latter based on the Broadway show she had danced in.

Television Career

Harper first appeared on television in 1963 with a guest role on the soap opera "The Doctors." Her breakout role came in 1970, when she began playing sarcastic window-dresser Rhoda Morgenstern on the new CBS sitcom "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." Harper was part of the main cast for the first four seasons of the show, and later returned as a guest for seasons six and seven. For her work, she received three Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. After leaving the show in 1974, Harper began starring as Rhoda on the spinoff sitcom "Rhoda," which also became a big hit. That show ran for five seasons through 1978 and earned Harper both Emmy and Golden Globe Awards. During the run of "Rhoda," Harper starred in the 1977 television film "Night Terror." She starred in several more television films in the 1980s, including "The Day the Loving Stopped," "Don't Go to Sleep," and "Strange Voices." From 1986 to 1987, Harper starred as Valerie Hogan on the NBC sitcom "Valerie." She ended up being fired after the second season due to a salary dispute, and her character was killed off. The show continued as "Valerie's Family" before being permanently renamed "The Hogan Family." In the first half of the 1990s, Harper starred on the short-lived CBS sitcom "City," had a recurring role on ABC's "Missing Persons," and appeared in some more television films.

In the second half of the 1990s, Harper starred on the short-lived CBS sitcom "The Office" and had guest roles on "Touched by an Angel," "Promised Land," "Melrose Place," and "Sex and the City." She also continued appearing in television films, including "The Great Mom Swap." In the early 2000s, Harper appeared on such shows as "That '70s Show," "Family Law," "Three Sisters," "Less than Perfect," and "Committed," and starred in the television films "Mary and Rhoda" and "Dancing at the Harvest Moon." Later, she had a memorable guest role as the aunt of Teri Hatcher's character in a 2011 episode of "Desperate Housewives." Harper also played Judge Leslie Singer in two episodes of "Drop Dead Diva" and appeared in the television film "My Future Boyfriend." Between 2013 and 2018, she voiced various characters on the animated sitcom "The Simpsons." Also in 2013, Harper appeared in an episode of "Hot in Cleveland" and competed on the 17th season of the ABC dance competition show "Dancing with the Stars." On the latter, she was eliminated third. In 2014, Harper guest-starred in two episodes of the Hallmark Channel series "Signed, Sealed, Delivered." She went on to guest-star on the sitcoms "Melissa & Joey" and "2 Broke Girls" in 2015, followed by her final television role, a guest role on "Childrens Hospital," in 2016.

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Film Career

Harper's first major role on the big screen was a supporting part in the 1974 buddy cop action film "Freebie and the Bean," for which she received a Golden Globe nomination for New Star of the Year – Actress. She earned another Golden Globe nomination, this time for Best Supporting Actress, for the 1979 romantic dramedy "Chapter Two." The year after that, Harper appeared in the comedy "The Last Married Couple in America." She mostly focused on television over the ensuing years, but she did have a big-screen role in the romantic comedy "Blame It on Rio" in 1984. Harper's later film credits included adaptations of the plays "Golda's Balcony" and "Searching for Certainty," with the latter shortened to "Certainty" for the screen. She had previously starred in the US national tour of "Golda's Balcony," a one-woman show.

Stage Career

After dancing in such stage shows as "Li'l Abner," "Wildcat," and "Subways Are for Sleeping," Harper had her first real acting roles on stage in the plays "Something Different" (1967-68) and "Paul Sills' Story Theatre" (1970-71). She later appeared off-Broadway in "Death Defying Acts" and "All Under Heaven" in the 1990s. From 2001 to 2002, Harper was a replacement in "The Tale of the Allergist's Wife" on Broadway, and from 2005 to 2006 she portrayed Golda Meir in a US national tour of the one-woman show "Golda's Balcony." Harper had her most acclaimed stage role from 2008 to 2010, when she portrayed actress Tallulah Bankhead in the play "Looped." She starred in the show from its premiere at the Pasadena Playhouse in California until its closing on Broadway. Although "Looped" was a flop on Broadway, Harper received a Tony Award nomination for her work. She went on to begin performing in the musical "Nice Work if You Can Get It" in 2015, but was forced to leave after a week due to her health.

Personal Life and Death

Harper was married to her first husband, actor Richard Schaal, from 1964 until their divorce in 1978. She subsequently dated actor Peter Horton, and then Tony Cacciotti. Harper and Cacciotti married in 1987 and adopted a daughter named Cristina.

In 2009, Harper was diagnosed with lung cancer. She was later diagnosed with a rare form of cancer affecting the brain. Harper underwent chemotherapy in response. In 2015, she fell unconscious and was hospitalized briefly. Harper continued treatment over the subsequent years until she passed away on August 30, 2019 in Los Angeles.

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