Another little piece of my childhood has gone, with the sad news that the eternal Rhoda, Miss Valerie Harper has died.
Despite having a diagnosis of terminal cancer back in 2013, she still managed to outlive her former co-star Mary Tyler-Moore by a couple of years.
Miss Harper epitomised for us a whole era of showbiz that straddled the slow demise of the "variety show" and the rise of the sitcom in the 1970s, and we will always fondly remember her smiling, cheery personality, whether as "Miss Morgenstern" or - more surprisingly, as a singer...
RIP, Valerie Kathryn Harper (22nd August 1939 – 30th August 2019).
More Miss Harper here and here.
I am just a smidge too young for Rhoda, and the Mary Tyler-Moore show. I remember them being on the TV, but I didn't really understand the storylines. But yes, one of the first American sit-coms I remember.
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I don't remember the Mary Tyler Moore Show [nor The Lucy Show, for that matter] either, but I don't think it was ever as popular as Rhoda. It and M*A*S*H are the earliest US sitcoms I remember seeing, too. Unless you count Bewitched, which was more for kids anyway. Jx
DeleteMs Harper was before my time, too. Although, she does look familiar, so I had a look at her filmography, and I think I might recognise her from The Muppet Show (a rerun, obviously) and Desperate Housewives.
ReplyDeleteBless. You young 'uns... Jx
Deletethe MTM show - I wanted to be mary (good job, funky apt, interesting friends). I was a junior in high school when the show began.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to be Ida Morgenstern! Jx
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