From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Valerie Harper (August 22, 1939 – August 30, 2019) was an American actress, known for her role as Rhoda Morgenstern on the 1970s television show The Mary Tyler Moore Show, and for her starring roles on the sitcoms Rhoda (a spin-off of The Mary Tyler Moore Show) and Valerie. Description above from the Wikipedia article Valerie Harper, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.