PASADENA, CA–Earlier in the tour, Valerie Harper was here to promote The Town That Came A-Courtin’ on UP. UP (“Uplifting Entertainment”) is a new, Hallmark-y U.S. cable channel and it’s also where Harper is these days despite her grim lung cancer diagnosis of less than a year ago.
The reason the 74-year-old is so positive is her original prognosis had her dead last April, and the reports from her doctors indicate Harper is responding well to medication. The lung cancer has metastasized and scattered in the lining of her brain, making it inoperable. Harper says she takes each day at a time and says we all should do the same.
The Town That Came A-Courtin’ was shot in Vancouver and also featured Lauren Holly (Motive) and Cameron Bancroft (Beverly Hills, 90210), It premiered Sunday on UP, but I’m guessing it will be there again soon. No word yet on a Canadian pick-up.
Harper was friendly and full of life in the scrum after the UP presentation, at one point saying she wished she could turn things around so that people could see the smiling faces she sees all the time now.
She was joined on stage by her husband of 30 years, Tony Cacciotti. He was a top Hollywood personal trainer; they met when she needed to get in shape for the movie Chapter Two.
You can read more on Harper, her cancer treatment and her upcoming projects here at this report I filed for The Canadian Press.
