Valerie Harper

Valerie Harper
Name	Valerie Harper
Birth name	Valerie Kathryn Harper
Birth date	1939-08-22
Death date	2019-08-30
Birth place	Dayton, Ohio, United States
Death place	Los Angeles, California, United States
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1950s–2019
Spouse	Richard Schaal (m. 1964; div. 1978)

Valerie Harper Valerie Kathryn Harper (August 22, 1939 – August 30, 2019) was an American actress best known for her television, film, and stage work across several decades. She achieved widespread recognition for her comic timing, character work, and dramatic range, earning multiple awards and nominations for performances on Broadway, network television, and in motion pictures. Harper collaborated with prominent creators and performers in American entertainment and became a public figure for her health advocacy later in life.

Early life and education

Harper was born in Dayton, Ohio and raised in Rhode Island and Utah after her family relocated; she later moved to New York City to pursue performing arts training. She studied dance and drama, taking lessons influenced by the traditions of Martha Graham's modern dance lineage and classical theater training found at institutions like the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and the studio system surrounding Broadway. Early in her development she worked in regional theaters and summer stock companies associated with touring circuits centered on venues in Massachusetts and Connecticut.

Career

Harper's professional career began in the 1950s and 1960s with roles in regional theater, off-Broadway productions, and small television appearances on anthology programs and variety shows that were part of the broadcast lineup of NBC and CBS. She transitioned to more prominent stage work on Broadway and national tours, collaborating with directors and choreographers linked to productions associated with Lincoln Center and the American Theater Wing. In the 1970s she moved into network sitcoms and serial television, working with creators and producers who had credits on series produced by studios such as Paramount Television and Universal Television. Across the 1980s and 1990s she maintained a presence on both stage and screen, appearing in made-for-television movies aired by ABC and CBS and guest-starring on series developed by production companies including Warner Bros. Television.

Notable roles and performances

Harper became widely known for her television role as a sharp-tongued but endearing character on a sitcom developed by creators with histories at MTM Enterprises and produced for NBC. That performance earned her critical acclaim and multiple awards from organizations such as the Primetime Emmy Awards and nominations from the Golden Globe Awards and Tony Awards for stage work. On Broadway she appeared in revivals and new plays that connected her to playwrights and directors whose works were staged at venues like The Public Theater and the Shubert Theatre. Her television credits also include recurring and guest roles on series produced by networks including ABC, CBS, and Fox Broadcasting Company, and she starred in television movies distributed through networks such as HBO and cable outlets associated with the rise of premium programming.

Personal life

Harper married actor and improviser Richard Schaal in the 1960s; Schaal had connections to improvisational theaters like Second City and worked in film and television roles linked to projects from The Carol Burnett Show alumni and sketch comedy ensembles. The couple had one child before divorcing; Harper later had relationships and professional partnerships with writers, directors, and producers active in Los Angeles and New York City. She lived for many years in the Los Angeles area while continuing to return to the New York theater community for select productions and award ceremonies organized by institutions such as the Tony Awards and the Screen Actors Guild.

Health struggles and advocacy

In later years Harper publicly disclosed diagnoses that prompted media coverage and advocacy work; she spoke about living with a progressive neurological condition and later with metastatic cancer, engaging with organizations and campaigns associated with patient support and awareness run by groups linked to American Cancer Society initiatives and foundations that fund research at medical centers such as those affiliated with Stanford University and the University of California, Los Angeles. Her openness about treatment, clinical trials, and hospice care fostered conversations in outlets including print and broadcast media operated by companies like The New York Times and CNN. Harper used her platform to encourage screenings and to highlight caregiver resources promoted by nonprofit organizations and hospital systems.

Legacy and honors

Harper's legacy includes a body of work that intersects classic American television comedy, Broadway theatre, and dramatic film roles, cited in histories of television produced by authors and scholars who study the Peabody Awards and the evolution of sitcoms on NBC and other major networks. She received multiple awards including a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress and nominations from the Tony Awards for her stage performances. Posthumously, retrospectives of her career have been organized by museums, television archives, and institutions such as the Paley Center for Media and university media studies programs, while her performances continue to be referenced in critical studies and biographies of collaborators from companies like MTM Enterprises and theatrical histories of Broadway.

Category:American actors Category:1939 births Category:2019 deaths