Valerie Harper death: confirmed facts, timeline, and cause of death

Valerie Harper, the American actress best known for her role as Rhoda Morgenstern on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its spin-off Rhoda, died on August 30, 2016. She was 80 years old. Harper had been publicly living with a terminal diagnosis of leptomeningeal carcinomatosis, a rare complication of her earlier-stage lung cancer, which spread to the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord. This verified explainer outlines the confirmed facts, timeline, and cause of death, drawing on authoritative sources to provide a durable, factual reference.