Category: People

Actor Danny Aiello of Moonstruck, Do The Right Thing, dead at 86

Danny Aiello, the blue-collar character actor whose long career playing tough guys included roles in Fort Apache, the Bronx, Moonstruck and Once Upon a Time in America and his Oscar-nominated performance as a pizza man in Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing, has died. He was 86.

Aiello died Thursday night after a brief illness, said his publicist, Tracey Miller, who runs Tracey Miller & Associates. “The family asks for privacy at this time,” she said in a statement.

In a tweet, Cher mourned the man she called “a genius comedic actor.” The two had starred in Moonstruck and she called it “one of the happiest times in my life.” Actor Michael Rapaport tweeted that Aiello was a “huge inspiration” and actor Kirk Acevedo mourned: “We lost a great actor today.”

Recognizable, if not famous, for his burly build and husky voice, he was an ex-union president who broke into acting in his 30s and remained a dependable player for decades, whether vicious or cuddly or some of each.

His breakthrough, ironically, was as the hapless lover dumped by Cher in Norman Jewison’s hit comedy Moonstruck. His disillusion contributed to the laughter, and although he wasn’t nominated for a supporting-role Oscar (Cher and Olympia Dukakis won in their categories), Aiello was inundated with movie offers.

“Living in New York City gave me training for any role,” he said in a 1997 interview. “I’ve seen people killed, knifed. I’ve got scars on my face. I have emotional recall when I work; the idea is simply to recreate it. I’ve seen it and experienced it. I’ve played gangsters, teachers but most of my work has been in the police area. And for that I’m adored by the police in New York City.”

The ebullient Aiello became a favourite of several directors, among them Woody Allen, who used him in the Broadway play The Floating Light Globe and the movies Broadway Danny Rose, The Purple Rose of Cairo and Radio Days.

Lee was another admirer and for Do the Right Thing cast Aiello as a pizzeria operator in a black neighbourhood of Brooklyn, the movie climaxing with a riot that destroys his eatery. “This is my pizzeria!” he cried. Lee had first offered the role to Robert De Niro, but Aiello’s performance brought him an Oscar nomination for supporting actor.

Among his other movies: Fort Apache, the Bronx (as a cop who threw a boy from a building), Once Upon a Time in America, Harlem Nights, Jack Ruby (as Ruby) and City Hall. He also appeared in TV miniseries, including The Last Don, A Woman Named Jackie and in the 1985-86 police series Lady Blue. It was Aiello who played Madonna’s father in the pop icon’s Papa Don’t Preach video.

A child of New York’s Hell’s Kitchen neighbourhood, Aiello retained the pugnacity he learned on city streets.

“During the early times in my acting career, I would fight at the drop of a hat,” he said in 1985. “I was very hungry. If there were obstacles, I tried to remove them.” He added that sometimes he engaged in fist fights with actors after work because of incidents during filming or rehearsals.

Daniel Louis Aiello Jr. was born June 20, 1933, to Italian parents. His father, a labourer, left the family of seven children, and Daniel started working at age nine, selling newspapers, working in a grocery store and bowling alley, shining shoes and loading trucks. In his teenage years, he joined a street gang and, he claimed, engaged in burglary and safe-cracking. He dropped out of high school before graduating, got married in 1955 and joined the Army.

After three years in the service, he worked at several factory jobs, landing as a baggage man at Greyhound. The ambitious Aiello rose to become president of the transit union.

“I wanted to become a politician,” he told a reporter in 1995. “I always thought that I could talk, that people liked me, that I can represent them.” But when Greyhound accused him of starting a wildcat strike and the union leaders agreed, Aiello quit his job.

He worked at one job after another, and in 1970 was hired as a bouncer at the New York comedy club, Improvisation. One night, he was asked to act as an assistant emcee. “It was no big deal; it was just ‘Danny, go up and announce the acts,'” he recalled in 1997. “There was a little bantering between acts, and I kept that short. I was terrified.”

Yet Aiello soon branched out, playing small roles in the movies Bang the Drum Slowly and The Godfather, Part II, and as the bartender lead in a musical play Lamppost Reunion. Starting in 1980 he averaged three films a year, plus appearances in theater and television. Off-Broadway, he appeared in The Shoemaker in 2011.

Aiello and his wife of more than 60 years, Sandy, lived in Ramsey, New Jersey. He also is survived by three children and 10 grandchildren: Rick, Jamie and Stacy. A fourth son, stuntman and stunt co-ordinator Danny Aiello III, died in May 2010 of pancreatic cancer.

Sesame Street legend Caroll Spinney, who played Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch, dies at 85

Legendary puppeteer Caroll Spinney, who brought to life Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street, has died at the age of 85. Sesame Workshop confirmed the news on Sunday morning, saying Spinney had been living with the movement disorder Dystonia for some time.

“Caroll was an artistic genius whose kind and loving view of the world helped shape and define Sesame Street from its earliest days in 1969 through five decades, and his legacy here at Sesame Workshop and in the cultural firmament will be unending,” Sesame Workshop wrote in a statement.

“His enormous talent and outsized heart were perfectly suited to playing the larger-than-life yellow bird who brought joy to generations of children and countless fans of all ages around the world, and his lovably cantankerous grouch gave us all permission to be cranky once in a while.”

In addition to Sesame Street, Spinney voiced Big Bird in 1979’s The Muppet Movie, Oscar the Grouch in 1981’s The Great Muppet Caper, and both beloved characters in 1985’s Follow That Bird.

Spinney received four Daytime Emmy Awards and a Lifetime Achievement Award for his work on Sesame Street, and two Grammy Awards for related recordings. He was also named a Library of Congress Living Legend in 2000.

As Spinney’s condition caused him greater discomfort, he handed over Big Bird duties to his apprentice Matt Vogel in 2015 before fully retiring from voice acting completely in 2018. That’s the same year Eric Jacobson was tasked with taking over the role of Oscar the Grouch.

“Through his legendary work as the world’s best-known, most lovable yellow bird, Caroll left an indelible mark on public television, and he touched the hearts and minds of countless children,” PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger wrote in a statement. “We are so very grateful for the inspiration, compassion and good humor that he brought to PBS audiences throughout his extraordinary career on SESAME STREET. He will be deeply missed.”

The official Muppets Twitter account also posted a message following the news of Spinney’s death, tweeting, “Whether as a Big Bird filled with wonder or a grouch named Oscar filled with complaints, Caroll Spinney filled all of our lives with joy, laughter and learning. Forever in our hearts.”

Spinney leaves behind his wife Debra, his children, grandchildren, and a legacy of laughs via the characters he portrayed with great humor and creativity for so much of his life.

René Auberjonois, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Boston Legal actor, dies at 79

Actor René Auberjonois, known for his roles on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Boston Legal, died on Sunday at age 79.

His son, Remy Auberjonois, confirmed to EW that the actor died today of lung cancer. Associated Press first reported the news.

Auberjonois was famous for playing Odo, a Changeling and chief of security for the titular space station in the television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. He played the character for 173 episodes from 1993-99.

The actor also held significant roles on series like the dramedy Boston Legal, on which he played lawyer Paul Lewiston from 2004-08, and the sitcom Benson, portraying the snooty Clayton Endicott III from 1980-86.

Auberjonois also guest-starred on numerous classic TV programs like The Jeffersons, The Bob Newhart Show, Rhoda, Frasier, and more. His last TV role was a 2016 arc as Walter Nowack on Madam Secretary. Auberjonois was also a prolific voice actor, with parts in projects like The Legend of Tarzan, Justice League, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and even 1989’s The Little Mermaid, as the singing French chef.

He also appeared in films, including five with director Robert Altman. Their first collaboration was 1970’s M*A*S*H, followed by movies like The Player starring Tim Robbins and McCabe & Mrs. Miller with Warren Beatty and Julie Christie. His last film appearance was in First Cow, directed by Kelly Reichardt, due out in 2020.

Born in 1940 in New York City, Auberjonois came from a creative family. He shared his name with his grandfather, a Swiss painter, and his father was writer Fernand Auberjonois. He grew up in Paris as well as upstate New York and later studied theater at Carnegie Mellon University. After graduating, Auberjonois acted in theater productions and won a Tony Award for the Katharine Hepburn-led Coco in 1969.

He was nominated for three other Tonys for The Good Doctor, Big River, and City of Angels. For his TV work, the actor nabbed Emmy nods for Benson and The Practice.

He is survived by his wife and two children.

Fans and fellow performers have mourned Auberjonois’ passing on social media.

“This is a terrible loss. Star Trek fans knew him as Odo from Deep Space Nine. We knew him as René,” fellow Star Trek actor George Takei tweeted. “He was a wonderful, caring, and intelligent man. He shall be missed. When I look out to the stars, I shall think of you, friend.”

Armin Shimerman, Auberjonois’ Deep Space Nine costar, wrote that “the world seems noticeably emptier now. I loved him.”

Henry Cavill on Superman: ‘I’ve Not Given Up the Role’

Superman hasn’t hung up his cape yet.

Or so says Henry Cavill, who portrayed the superhero beginning with “Man of Steel” in 2013 and most recently, in the failed 2017 movie “Justice League.” The “Witcher” actor is insisting his time as the DC character isn’t over.

“The cape is in the closet,” Cavill said in Mens’ Health’s December cover story. “It’s still mine. I’m not going to sit quietly in the dark as all the stuff is going on. I’ve not given up the role. There’s a lot I have to give for Superman yet. A lot of storytelling to do. A lot of real, true depths to the honest of the character I wasn’t to get into. I want to reflect the comic books. That’s important to me. There’s a lot of justice to be done for Superman. The status is: You’ll see.”

Cavill’s statement comes as Warner Bros. has refrained from announcing any new films starring the British actor since its decision to revamp the plan for the DC Extended Universe following “Justice League’s” flop. The most recent installments in the DCEU include 2018’s “Aquaman” — one of the most profitable movies of the year, grossing over $1 billion worldwide — and “Shazam!” in April.

Most recently, Cavill appeared in “Mission: Impossible — Fallout” alongside Tom Cruise and stars in Netflix’s TV adaptation of “The Witcher,” which debuts Dec. 20.

Michael J. Pollard of ‘House of 1000 Corpses’ dead at 80

Michael J. Pollard, a character actor best known for roles in 2003’s “House of 1000 Corpses” and 1967’s “Bonnie and Clyde,” has died. He was 80.

His death was announced by rock star and filmmaker Rob Zombie, who directed Pollard in his role as Stucky in the cult film.

“We have lost another member of our ‘HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES’ family. I woke up to the news that Michael J. Pollard had died,” Zombie, 54, wrote on Facebook. “I have always loved his work and his truly unique on screen presence. He was one of the first actors I knew I had to work with as soon as I got my first film off the ground. He will be missed.”

The post was accompanied by a photo of several cast members of the film on set including Sid Haig, Pollard and Irwin Keyes, who have all died, as well as podcaster-comedian Chris Hardwick, 47, the host of AMC’s “Talking Dead.”

“I can’t believe all three of my friends in this picture are now gone,” Zombie added.

Haig, who played Captain Spaulding in Zombie’s debut film and its 2005 sequel, “The Devil’s Rejects,” died in September. He was also 80. Haig starred in the follow-up movie in Zombie’s horror film franchise, “3 From Hell,” alongside Zombie’s wife, Sheri Moon Zombie, and Bill Moseley, in 2019.

Keyes, who also starred in “The Warriors,” “Friday the 13th” and Woody Allen’s “Stardust Memories,” died at 63 in 2015 of complications caused by acromegaly, a pituitary gland disorder he had all his life.

Pollard, who was born in Passaic, NJ, played C.W. Moss in “Bonnie and Clyde” opposite Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. His role in the classic film earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

Actor Robert Forster dead

Oscar nominated actor Robert Forster has died aged 78.

The star’s publicist told The Hollywood Reporter he passed away in Los Angeles, California on Friday, after losing his battle with brain cancer.

The prolific actor amassed over 100 film and TV credits during his career, but scored his Academy Award nomination for his role as Max Cherry in Quentin Tarantino’s 1997 film Jackie Brown.

His last movie role was a reprisal of his Breaking Bad character, Ed, in El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie, which was released on Netflix the same day as his death.

Robert’s Breaking Bad co-star Bryan Cranston took to Twitter to share his condolences, writing: “I’m saddened today by the news that Robert Forster has passed away.

“A lovely man and a consummate actor. I met him on the movie Alligator (pic) 40 years ago, and then again on BB. I never forgot how kind and generous he was to a young kid just starting out in Hollywood. RIP Bob.”

Robert made his movie debut opposite Marlon Brando and Elizabeth Taylor in 1967’s Reflections in a Golden Eye. He went on to have a celebrated career, which even included stints on Broadway, beginning in 1965 with Mrs. Dally.

The actor is survived by his children, Bobby, Elizabeth, Kate and Maeghen; his grandchildren, Tess, Liam, Jack and Olivia; and his longtime partner, Denise Grayson.

Ric Ocasek, Cars Singer Who Fused Pop and New Wave, Dead at 75

Ric Ocasek, the idiosyncratic singer and guitarist for the Cars and hit-making album producer, died on Sunday in his New York City apartment. He was 75. A rep for the NYPD confirmed the singer’s death to Rolling Stone.

At approximately 3 p.m. ET, police officers responded to a 911 call at Ocasek’s home at 140 E. 19th Street, the rep said. Officers discovered Ocasek unconscious and unresponsive. He was later pronounced dead at the scene, though no cause of death has been revealed. A rep for the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Beginning with the Cars self-titled debut in 1978, Ocasek established himself as a stoic frontman with a sense of humor and melodrama on songs like “My Best Friend’s Girl,” “You’re All I’ve Got Tonight,” and “Good Times Roll.” As a member of the Cars, Ocasek helped kickstart the new-wave movement by pinning his disaffected vocals against herky-jerky rhythm guitar, dense keyboards and dancefloor-ready beats, and as one of the group’s lead vocalists, alongside bassist Benjamin Orr, he sang the hits “Shake It Up” and “You Might Think.” With the exception of only a couple of songs, Ocasek wrote every tune the Cars recorded. After the band broke up in 1988, Ocasek recorded as a solo artist and worked as a producer, helping sculpt blockbuster hits like Weezer’s Blue Album and Green Album and cult favorites like Bad Brains’ Rock for Light.

casek was born to a Polish Catholic family in Baltimore. His father was a computer systems analyst, and he was sent to a parochial elementary school, where he was kicked out in the fifth grade. He told Rolling Stone in a 1979 profile that he couldn’t remember why he’d been expelled, though he said he aspired to be what he called a “drake,” a tough kid. He fell in love with the Crickets’ “That’ll Be the Day” when he was 10, prompting his grandmother to give him a guitar, though he didn’t take to it immediately. He became a rebel in his teen years, running away for weeks at a time to the beach town of Ocean City, Maryland.

His family relocated to Cleveland when he was 16, and he decided to shape up and get good grades so he could attend a good college, but he ended up dropping out anyway and became interested again in guitar. This time it stuck, and he started writing tunes regularly. “After I started writing songs, I figured it would be good to start a band,” he told Rolling Stone. “Sometimes I’d put together a band just to hear my songs. If a person couldn’t play that well, there’d be fewer outside ideas to incorporate.” One of the musicians Ocasek drafted was Benjamin Orzechowski (later changing his last name to Orr); he helped record one of the demos.

Ocasek and Orr relocated to New York City, Woodstock and Ann Arbor, Michigan, singing Buddy Holly songs as a duo or playing hard rock so they could open for the MC5. Eventually, they settled in Cambridge, Massachusetts and formed a folk trio called Milkwood, releasing an album in 1972. They both struggled financially — Ocasek worked in clothing stores to keep his family fed — and eventually they met the musicians who would form the rest of the Cars and the group gelled in the winter of 1976. Ocasek wrote all the songs and acted as a benevolent dictator.

“The way it worked was, it would either be on a cassette, or Ric would pick up his guitar and perform the song for us,” Cars guitarist Elliott Easton told Rolling Stone. “We’d all watch his hands and listen to the lyrics and talk about it. We knew enough about music, so we just built the songs up. When there was a space for a hook or a line — or a sinker — we put it in.”

The Cars’ self-titled album, which Queen producer Roy Thomas Baker helmed, came out on June 6th, 1978 and became a Top 20 hit in the U.S. It was later certified sextuple platinum on the strength of the hits “Just What I Needed” (sung by Orr), “My Best Friend’s Girl,” and “Good Times Roll.” The record is also home to a couple of songs that became hits later, including “You’re All I’ve Got Tonight” and (with some thanks due to it soundtracking a pivotal scene in Fast Times at Ridgemont High), “Moving in Stereo.”

Baby Hold On: Why Eddie Money Was the Patron Saint of Rock Uncool

As he himself would have admitted, Eddie Money was no one’s idea of a conventional rock star. His stage moves were always a little gawky and spasmodic, his borderline hoarse voice in need of a lozenge or two. Emerging during the punk era though never part of it, he preferred the stadium-friendly shout-along choruses of mainstream rock and adopted the suit-and-tie New Wave look while keeping his hair unfashionably long. He was even an NYPD cop — a career move that, while utterly honorable, didn’t jibe with the traditional, anti-establishment rock & roll handbook.

For decades, we’ve been taught that pop stars, especially rock stars, are supposed to embody a certain type of cool. But the accidental genius of Money, who died Friday of heart valve complications at 70, was that he almost never was. Throughout pretty much his entire career, he was rock’s endearing every-palooka, a clumsy, somewhat overwrought guy who was one of rock’s most relatable acts and, during a 45-year career, stumbled onto some of the most enduring radio hits of his era.

From the start, Money seemed out of step. His first album arrived in 1977, the same year that gave us the debuts of the Clash and Elvis Costello, yet Money preferred his rock & roll almost proudly, unabashedly generic. This was the dawn of what came to be known as corporate rock, and so many of Money’s early hits, like “Baby Hold On,” “Gimme Some Water” (“cause I shot a man on the Mexican border”?), and especially “Two Tickets to Paradise,” conformed to many of that genre’s trademarks: big, brawny guitars, a certain vacuum-sealed sound, the music-school guitar solo.

But riding over all of it was that husky, immediately recognizable voice. Money threw himself into songs the way he threw himself into stage shows: with a sloppy passion. Rock lyrics don’t get any more generic than those in the frisky “Think I’m in Love” or his first hit “Baby Hold On” — “the future is ours to see/when you hold on to me” — but Money sang them, and other songs, as if he believed fully in every single word and that his life depended on conveying them with as much intensity as he could.

This was also the era of the pillow-soft sound now called Yacht Rock, a fairly loathsome term dripping with ironic appreciation for the likes of Christopher Cross and Rupert Holmes. But again, Money was never quite right for that moment, either. Hardly a suave crooner, he stood in for every person who was all sputtery emotions, bereft of the polished or articulate gene. As seen repeatedly in his videos, he couldn’t quite pull off the glam-sultry look either, even when he was pretending to be a vampire (“Think I’m in Love”).

Five minutes of bleating desperation, “Take Me Home Tonight,” the 1986 hit that put him back on the charts after a dry spell, remains a wondrous record. As always, he sang it as if his world was falling apart and there was nothing he could do about it — a tension only released when Ronnie Spector emerged to pay homage to her Ronettes hit “Be My Baby” in what may have been the first “live sample” in pop, not cribbing from an old record but actually using the original singer to recreate the part.

That song inaugurated what was Money’s golden era. It’s hard to think of any other Seventies rocker who adapted so well to the sound of the following decade, but Money and his various producers and co-songwriters managed to modernize him while never forgetting his big, over-the-top emotions. “I Wanna Go Back” hit the rock-klutz paydirt, as did “We Should Be Sleeping.” There was nothing remotely subtle about any of those songs or their arrangements, but Money made you root for him, especially since so many of his songs amounted to confessions about how much he’d screwed up in one way or another. And while Money’s discography isn’t exactly filled with buried treasures, plenty of deep cuts are worthy revisiting: the punchy “Trinidad” (especially the live, acoustic version on his Unplug It In EP) and “Another Nice Day in L.A.,” co-written with original Heartbreakers drummer Stan Lynch.

Then there’s “Walk on Water,” which may well be his masterpiece. Again, it’s laden with every sonic bell and whistle from the Eighties: the amped-synth arrangement, the chanting “na-na-na-na” chorus, the extremely intrusive drums. But even as it elbows its way into the room or the radio, it’s an undeniably poignant song. When he hits the word “believe” in the chorus (“If I could walk on water/would you … believe in me … my love is so true!”), he sounds so desperate to save another failed relationship that you can’t help but side with him. Pop was growing increasingly mechanized, but Money, in his heartfelt, let-it-hang-out way, raged against the machine.

Eddie Money, veteran rock singer dead at 70

Eddie Money the veteran rock musician best known for hits including Baby Hold On”, “Two Tickets to Paradise”, and “Take Me Home Tonight”, has died at the age of 70.

Last month, Money revealed that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 esophageal cancer. Money “passed away peacefully early this morning (September 13th),” according to a statement from his family.
“It is with heavy hearts that we say goodbye to our loving husband and father. We cannot imagine our world without him,” the statement adds. “We are grateful that he will live on forever through his music.”

A frequent presence on rock radio throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Money had 11 Top 40 hits to his name. His first two singles, “Baby Hold On” and “Two Tickets to Paradise”, each cracked the top 25 in 1978. A year later, he dropped “Maybe I’m a Fool”, which peaked at No. 22.

Money’s dominance continued into the 1980s with songs like “Think I’m in Love”, “Walk on Water”, and “Take Me Home Tonight”. The latter, a duet with Ronnie Spektor, proved to be his most successful single, hitting No. 1 on the US rock charts and earning him a Grammy nomination for Best Male Rock Performance.

Since 2018, Money and his family were the subject of a reality TV series called Real Money on AXS TV. Money revealed his cancer diagnosis in a recent episode of the show. “I thought I was going in for a check-up and [the doctor] told me I have cancer,” he explained. “We found out that I had cancer and that it was stage 4 and that it was in my liver and my lymph nodes and a little bit in my stomach… It hit me really, really hard.”

“What I don’t want to do is I don’t want to keep the fact that I have cancer from everybody,” Money added. “It’s not honest. I want to be honest with everybody. I want people to know that cancer [treatment] has come a long way and not everybody dies from cancer like they did in the Fifties and Sixties. Am I going to live a long time? Who knows? It’s in God’s hands.”

Actress Valerie Harper, of Mary Tyler Moore Show and Rhoda fame, dead at 80

Valerie Harper, who scored guffaws and stole hearts as Rhoda Morgenstern on back-to-back hit sitcoms in the 1970s, has died. She was 80.

Longtime family friend Dan Watt confirmed Harper died Friday, adding the family wasn’t immediately releasing any further details.

Harper was a breakout star playing the lovable sidekick on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, then as the funny leading lady of the spinoff series, Rhoda.

She won three consecutive Emmys (1971-73) as supporting actress on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and another for outstanding lead actress for Rhoda, which ran from 1974-78. Beyond awards, she was immortalized — and typecast — for playing one of television’s most beloved characters, a best friend the equal of Ethel Mertz and Ed Norton in TV’s sidekick pantheon.

Fans had long feared the news of her passing. In 2013, she first revealed that she had been diagnosed with brain cancer and had been told by her doctors she had as little as three months to live. Some responded as if a family member were in peril.

But she refused to despair. “I’m not dying until I do,” Harper said in an interview on NBC’s Today show. “I promise I won’t.” Harper did outlive her famous co-star: Mary Tyler Moore died in January 2017. Ed Asner, Cloris Leachman and Betty White are among the former cast members who survive her.

In recent years, Harper’s other appearances included American Dad!, The Simpsons and Two Broke Girls.

Harper was a chorus dancer on Broadway as a teen before moving into comedy and improv when, in 1970, she auditioned for the part of a Bronx-born Jewish girl who would be a neighbour and pal of Minneapolis news producer Mary Richards on a new sitcom for CBS.

It seemed a long shot for the young, unknown actress. As she recalled, “I’m not Jewish, not from New York, and I have a small, shiksa nose.” And she had almost no TV experience.

But Harper, who arrived for her audition some 20 pounds overweight, may have clinched the role when she blurted out in admiration to the show’s tall, slender star: “Look at you in white pants without a long jacket to cover your behind!”

It was exactly the sort of thing Rhoda would say to “Mar,” as Harper recalled in her 2013 memoir, I, Rhoda. Harper was signed without a screen test.

Of course, if CBS had gotten its way, Rhoda might have been a very different character with a much different actress in place. As The Mary Tyler Moore Show was being developed, its producers were battling a four-point decree from the network, which insisted that the nation’s TV viewers would not accept series characters who were (1) divorced, (2) from New York, (3) Jewish or (4) have mustaches.

The producers lost on having Mary Richards divorced — instead, she had been dumped by her long-time boyfriend — but with Rhoda they overrode the network on two other counts.

The show that resulted was a groundbreaking hit, with comically relatable Rhoda one big reason.

“Women really identified with Rhoda because her problems and fears were theirs,” Harper theorized in her book. “Despite the fact that she was the butt of most of her own jokes, so to speak … her confident swagger masked her insecurity. Rhoda never gave up.”

Neither did Harper, who confronted her own insecurities with similar moxie.

“I was always a little overweight,” she once told The Associated Press. “I’d say, ‘Hello, I’m Valerie Harper and I’m overweight.’ I’d say it quickly before they could … I always got called chubby, my nose was too wide, my hair was too kinky.”

But as The Mary Tyler Moore Show evolved, so did Rhoda. Rhoda trimmed down and glammed up, while never losing her comic step. The audience loved her more than ever.

A spinoff seemed inevitable. In 1974, Rhoda was dispatched from Minneapolis back home to New York City, where she was reunited with her parents and younger sister in a new sitcom that costarred Nancy Walker, Harold Gould and Julie Kavner.

She also met and fell in love with the hunky owner of a demolition firm.

The premiere of Rhoda that September was the week’s top-rated show, getting a 42 per cent share of audience against competition including Monday Night Football on ABC. And a few weeks later, when Rhoda and her fiance, Joe, were wed in a one-hour special episode, more than 52 million people — half of the U.S. viewing audience — tuned in.

But Rhoda couldn’t maintain those comic or popular heights. A domesticated, lucky-in-love Rhoda wasn’t a funny Rhoda. By the end of the third season, the writers had taken a desperate step: Rhoda divorced Joe. Thus had Rhoda (and Harper) defied a third CBS taboo.

The series ended in 1978 with Harper having played Rhoda for a total of nine seasons.

She had captured the character by studying her Italian stepmother. But Harper’s own ethnicity — neither Jewish nor Italian — was summed up in a New York Times profile as “an exotic mixture of Spanish-English-Scotch-Irish-Welsh-French-Canadian.”

And she was not a Gothamite. Born in Suffern, N.Y., into a family headed by a peripatetic sales executive, she spent her early years in Oregon, Michigan and California before settling in Jersey City, N.J.

By high school, she was taking dance lessons in Manhattan several times a week. By age 15, she was dancing specialty numbers at Radio City Music Hall. By 18, she was in the chorus of the Broadway musical Li’l Abner (then appeared in the film adaptation a year later). She also danced in the musicals Take Me Along (starring Jackie Gleason) and Wildcat (starring Lucille Ball).

She found comedy when she fell in with a group of Second City players from Chicago who had taken up residence in Greenwich Village. One of these improv players was Richard Schaal, whom she wed in 1964. (They divorced in 1978.)

Harper and Schaal moved to Los Angeles in 1968. Two years later, in a theater production, she was spotted by a casting agent for the role of Rhoda.

During The Mary Tyler Moore, Harper appeared in her first major film, the comedy Freebie and the Bean, and later was cast in Blame It on Rio and an adaptation of Neil Simon’s play Chapter Two.

In 1986, she returned to series TV with a family sitcom called Valerie. While not matching her past critical successes, the show proved popular. But in the summer of 1987, Harper and her manager, Tony Cacciotti, whom she had married a few months earlier, were embroiled in a highly publicized feud with Lorimar Telepictures, the show’s production company, and its network, NBC.

In a dispute over salary demands, Harper had refused to report for work, missing one episode. The episode was filmed without her. She was back on duty the following week, only to be abruptly dumped and replaced by actress Sandy Duncan. The show was renamed Valerie’s Family and then The Hogan Family.

Meanwhile, lawsuits and countersuits flew. In September 1988, a jury decided that Harper was wrongfully fired. She was awarded $1.4 million US compensation plus profit participation in the show (which continued without Harper until 1991).

“I felt vindicated,” Harper wrote in her memoir. “I had beaten Lorimar and reclaimed my reputation.”

During the 1990s, Harper starred in a pair of short-lived sitcoms (one of which, City, was created by future Oscar-winner Paul Haggis) and made guest appearances on series including Melrose Place, Sex and the City and Desperate Housewives.

She reunited with Moore in a 2000 TV film, Mary and Rhoda. In 2013, there was an even grander reunion: Harper and Moore were back together along with fellow MTM alumnae Leachman, White and Georgia Engel to tape an episode of White’s hit comedy, Hot in Cleveland. It was the ensemble’s first acting job together in more than 30 years and during a news conference Harper cited a valuable lesson: The character of Rhoda, she said, pointing to Moore, “taught me to thank your lucky stars for a fabulous friend.”