Tag Archives: survivor

Valerie Harper is being sued by a New York playwright who says she ruined his play by withholding her brain cancer diagnosis, a claim she says is outrageous. He wants $2 million as a result of her alleged deception, while she insists no one was more surprised at the return of her cancer than Valerie herself. In the lawsuit, filed last December, Broadway bigwig Matthew Lombardo accused the Mary Tyler Moore Show star , 74, of keeping her illness a secret. This caused her to unexpectedly drop out of the 2013 play, Looped , which he says he invested big time in with the understanding she would perform. But in new court documents, the Dancing With the Stars alum claims she believed she was in cancer remission, having had successfully undergone surgery. She says she had no idea the cancer had returned and spread to her brain until January 2013, a month after she had re-signed her contract for Looped . She also disputes Lombardo’s claim that she was hospitalized for a recurrence of her cancer in January 2012, causing her to miss the day’s rehearsal. The star’s longtime husband, producer Tony Cacciotti, “took Ms. Harper to the hospital from the rehearsal because he feared that she had a stroke.” Harper is requesting the suit be dismissed, and that Lombardo pay legal fees. Sadly, the actress is still suffering from terminal leptomeningeal carcinomatosis, but she says she remains “cautiously optimistic” about the future. Celebrities Who Beat Cancer Open Slideshow 1. Robin Roberts Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts beat breast cancer in 2007 and myelodysplastic syndrome in 2012-13. View As List 1. Robin Roberts Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts beat breast cancer in 2007 and myelodysplastic syndrome in 2012-13. 2. Sheryl Crow Singer Sheryl Crow, Lance Armstrong’s ex-girlfriend, beat breast cancer with the help of her former-boyfriend, who was himself a cancer survivor. 3. Lance Armstrong While Lance Armstrong was disgraced by a doping scandal, his survival of stage-four testicular cancer is nothing to scoff about. 4. Michael C. Hall Dexter’s Michael C. Hall fought Hodgkin’s Lymphoma during filming of the hit Showtime series. 5. Michael Douglas Michael Douglas beat throat cancer, but probably with the help of doctors and not by pleasuring his wife, Catherine Zeta-Jones. 6. Amy Robach Amy Robach, another Good Morning America anchor, underwent a mammogram on-air and learned she had breast cancer. She is now cancer free. 7. Christina Applegate Christina Applegate underwent a double mastectomy and treatments and announced she was 100% cancer free. 8. Anderson Cooper Anderson Cooper had a cancerous mole removed from his face in 2008. He was back on air the night of his surgery for Anderson 360. 9. Sharon Osbourne Sharon Osbourne’s battle with colon cancer was a prominent focus during her family’s reality show, The Osbournes. She is now a vocal proponent of colon cancer screenings. 10. Edie Falco Edie Falco, Emmy winner, battled breast cancer in 2004.

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Valerie Harper Sued For Hiding Brain Cancer Diagnosis, Denies Allegation