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Valerie Harper Diagnosed with Terminal Brain Cancer, Has Three Months to Live

Actress Valerie Harper has terminal brain cancer, she tells People. On Jan. 15, Harper, 73, was diagnosed with leptomeningeal carcinomatosis, a rare condition that occurs when cancer cells spread into the fluid-filled membrane surrounding the brain. Doctors have estimated that she has only three months to live.

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Robyn Ross

Actress Valerie Harper has terminal brain cancer, she tells People.

On Jan. 15, Harper, 73, was diagnosed with leptomeningeal carcinomatosis, a rare condition that occurs when cancer cells spread into the fluid-filled membrane surrounding the brain. Doctors have estimated that she has only three months to live.

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Harper became famous when she landed the sidekick role of Rhoda Morgenstern on the CBS comedy The Mary Tyler Moore Show. She then starred in her own spin-off Rhoda. She won four Emmys and a Golden Globe for the role. 

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In 2009, Harper was diagnosed with lung cancer, which she wrote about in her recent memoir "I, Rhoda."

"I don't think of dying," the actress says in the magazine. "I think of being here now."