Happy Birthday Valerie Harper! One of my favorite people from RICK McKAY’S BROADWAY: THE GOLDEN AGE FILM TRILOGY, here is Val telling the story of how the great Lucille Ball improvised one night on Broadway in the show WILDCAT in 1960. Lucy’s daughter, the mega-talented Lucie Arnaz, who begins the national tour of PIPPIN next week, lends an able assist to the telling of the tale and is also a highlight of the new, 2015 film, BROADWAY: BEYOND THE GOLDEN AGE.
Few people realize that Valerie, the star of two of television’s funniest series ever, THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW and RHODA, started her career dancing in the chorus of shows like TAKE ME ALONG opposite Jackie Gleason and fellow BBGA cast member Robert Morse. She was an in-demand dancer hired by another BBGA cast member, Michael Kidd, in shows like WILDCAT and SUBWAYS ARE FOR SLEEPING. One of the last centuries greatest television comediennes, Valerie is also a killer actress and garnered rave reviews from critics in Charles Busch’s wonderful play, THE TALE OF THE ALLERGIST’S WIFE and won a Tony nomination as Best Actress for her brilliant portrayal of Tallulah Bankhead in the 2010 Broadway show LOOPED.
I think almost everyone on the planet is aware of the health challenge that Valerie was dealt in March, 2013 when she was given a diagnosis of terminal brain cancer with 3 months to live. A year and a half later Valerie has shocked the medical community and the world by beating the odds, going into remission, and being busier than ever after appearing on Dancing with the Stars last year and in a recurring role on Hallmark TV’s Signed, Sealed, Delivered. Clearly the universe has decided that our planet would not be the same without Valerie on it, and we could not agree more. One of the most lovely, generous and (as you can see in this clip from BBGA) genuine people you are ever likely to meet. Happy Birthday Val - the world is a better place with you in it!