Valerie Harper Laid to Rest in L.A. as Daughter Gives Speech During Funeral
Johnny Dodd 19 hrs ago
Valerie Harper‘s friends and family honored the late actress on Saturday for a powerful and emotional funeral service.
© Joe Pugliese Valerie Harper
The actress was laid to rest at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, near graves of late stars Mickey Rooney and Chris Cornell.
In attendance were director James L. Brooks, actor Elliott Gould and actress Frances Fisher.
The service was filled with tears and laughter, especially when Harper’s daughter, Cristina Cacciotti, shared loving words about her mother’s much-celebrated toughness during her cancer battle.
“I don’t have balls, I have steel ovaries,” Cacciotti recalled her mother saying. Other speakers also recounted Harper’s lifelong acts of charity and political activism.
Harper died on Aug. 30 at age 80 after years of health issues, including leptomeningeal carcinomatosis, lung cancer and brain cancer. The actress was diagnosed with leptomeningeal carcinomatosis in 2013, just four years after she beat lung cancer in 2009. The condition occurs when cancer cells spread into the fluid-filled membrane surrounding the brain, known as the meninges.