Comprehensive information and links about Valerie Harper

Valerie Harper (born August 22, 1940 in Suffern, New YorkValerie Harper is an American actress, best known for the 1970s television role of Rhoda Morgenstern-Gerard, which she played on , on which she performed with Lucille Ball.

She also appeared in bit parts in several films beginning with (1959), when she was a teenager. During the late 1960s, however, Harper worked somewhat less, though she appeared in Carl Reiner's play writer, Richard Schaal, whose daughter, actress Wendy Schaal (who voices "Francine Smith" on American Dad), was her stepdaughter.

Things changed when Harper got the role of the wise-cracking yet vulnerable uber-Jewish New Yorker, Rhoda Morgenstern, on two CBS TV sitcoms of the 1970s: (1974 - 1978), in which she played the title role. She won four Emmy awards and a Golden Globe for her work as Rhoda Morgenstern on both series.

She also picked up a Golden Globe for New Star of the Year for her role in 1974's in 1988 after Harper abruptly left the series (following a dispute with the producers) and was replaced by Sandy Duncan.

Harper has worked almost exclusively in television, and has also had roles in made-for-TV-movies and guest spots on a number of series, including . In the 1990s, she advocated hormone replacement therapy for the Eli Lilly company.

Harper is a member of the Screen Actors Guild, and ran for President in the 2001 election, being beaten in a bitter election feud by actress Melissa Gilbert.

A 2000 project, , was planned as a reunion series for Harper and her friend and longtime co-star, Mary Tyler Moore, but the project instead appeared as a made-for-TV movie on the ABC network.