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TV icon Valerie Harper facing terminal brain cancer

By April Neale Mar 6, 2013, 13:53 GMT

01/14/2012 - Valerie Harper - Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movie Channel\'s Winter 2012 TV Critics Association Press Tour Evening Gala - Arrivals - Tournament House - Pasadena, CA, USA © Tina Gill / PR Photos

Sad news this morning, as actress Valerie Harper, known best for her role on The Mary Tyler Moore show, has announced she has terminal brain cancer.

According to People magazine, Ms. Harper, 73, was told she may have only three months left to live.

It was her role as neighbor Rhoda Morgenstern on The Mary Tyler Moore Show that made her a household name. Her character was so popular that she earned a spin-off series titled "Rhoda."

The news of her cancer was delivered January 15 according to the People report.

Her doctors diagnosed leptomeningeal carcinomatosis, a rare condition that occurs when cancer cells enter the fluid-filled membrane surrounding the brain. Ms. Harper will try chemo, but, according to People, her doctors say she may only have three months left to live.

"I don't think of dying," says Harper, who has been married to Tony Cacciotti since 1987. "I think of being here now."

In 2009, Ms. Harper was diagnosed with lung cancer despite the fact she was a non-smoker, which she beat. But she tells People now, "I'm well past my expiration date already."