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Tag: Looped

  • Valerie Harper Sued For Having Cancer

    Valerie Harper Sued For Having Cancer

    Playwright Matthew Lombardo, along with several other Broadway producers, are suing Valerie Harper for not informing them that her cancer had returned.

    According to documents obtained by TMZ, the lawsuit states that 74-year-old Harper failed to notify them, in 2012, when she found out that her cancer was no longer in remission. Harper was starring in Lombardo’s play Looped at the time.

    The producers claim that Harper started slurring, and forgetting, her lines during rehearsal, and immediately knew something was wrong. In January 2013, after being urged to see the doctor by the director, Harper found out that the cancer had spread to her brain and was told that she only had three months to live. She later dropped out of the play.

    Harper originally filed a claim stating that Lombardo did not plan on paying her the rest of her salary as the contract stated. In return, Lombardo and his co-plaintiffs filed a suit stating that Harper left them insufficient time to find a replacement, costing him $500,000. He is also seeing an additional $1.5 million for her negligence in telling him about the cancer diagnosis in a timely manner.

    Although Harper is not cancer free, she says that she is optimistic about her current condition. “What all parties want to be made clear now is that while the Lepto has not spread, I am still not cured,” Harper told Closer magazine. “I am a cancer patient, and I continue to fight with the hope that a cure may be just around the corner.”

    Harper became famous when she landed the role of Rhoda Morgenstern on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and then in its spin-off, Rhoda . After receiving her lung cancer diagnosis in 2009, Harper wrote her memoir titled I, Rhonda.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Valerie Harper Sued for Concealing Cancer, Forgetting Lines in Broadway Show “Looped”

    Valerie Harper has been sued for concealing her cancer diagnosis to an employer. The lawsuit could cost her 2 million dollars, but it hasn’t stopped the 74 year old actress from losing hope or working.

    Harper has gone through a roller coaster of hope and despair after her diagnosis of leptomeningeal carcinomatosis last year. She joined the cast of Dancing with the Stars and did her best to continue working. Just last week, it was announced that she was “getting pretty close to a remission”. Despite the good news, Harper was having trouble remembering lines, a problem that has brought forth a lawsuit.

    TMZ reported that the producers and playwright of the Broadway show Looped have filed suit against the actress. They allege that Harper deliberately concealed the cancer diagnosis in order to be hired. When she had to leave the show prematurely, the playwright, Matthew Lombardo, was left scrambling to find a suitable replacement, a situation which he says cost him 500,000 dollars. Lombardo is also asking for an additional 1.5 million dollars, bringing the entire suit to 2 million dollars. Harper also has a lawsuit against the producers and Lombardo, claiming that she was not paid her full contact when she left the show.

    The lawsuit does not seem to be a detractor for the Hallmark Channel, who recently signed Harper on for their new show Signed, Sealed, Delivered. The LA Times reported that Valerie Harper will play the supervisor of a group of civil servants dedicated to delivering lost mail. Producer and writer Martha Williamson said “Valerie is somebody who would take a challenge like this and turn it into an opportunity to encourage other people. The first thing she and Tony said to me when I told them about the show was we want to use this show as an opportunity to encourage other people.”

    The actress’s Twitter account is filled with information and buzz about the new series, just like it was for Looped five years ago. It will remain to be seen if the actress makes any statement about the lawsuit, or if any other employers come forward with suits of their own.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons.