<P> Harper began as a dancer and chorus girl on Broadway, and went on to perform in several Broadway shows, some choreographed by Michael Kidd, including Wildcat (starring Lucille Ball), Take Me Along (starring Jackie Gleason), and Subways Are For Sleeping . In - between she was also cast in Destry Rides Again but was forced to leave rehearsals due to illness . Her roommate, actress Arlene Golonka, introduced her to Second City improvisation theater and to improv performer Dick Schaal, whom Harper later married in 1965 . Harper was stepmother to Schaal's daughter, Wendy, an actress . They lived in Greenwich Village . She returned to Broadway in February 2010, playing Tallulah Bankhead in Matthew Lombardo's Looped at the Lyceum Theatre . </P> <P> Harper appeared in a bit part in the film version of Li'l Abner (1959), playing a Yokumberry Tonic wife . She broke into television on an episode of the soap opera The Doctors ("Zip Guns can Kill"). She was an extra in Love with the Proper Stranger . She was in the ensemble cast of Paul Sill's Story Theatre and toured with Second City with Schaal, Linda Lavin and others, later appearing in sketches on Playboy After Dark . Harper performed several characters in a comedy LP, When You're in Love the Whole World is Jewish, which included the popular novelty single, The Ballad of Irving, a recitation by TV announcer Frank Gallop. Harper and Schaal moved to Los Angeles in 1968, and co-wrote an episode of Love, American Style . </P> <P> While doing theater in Los Angeles in 1970, Harper was spotted by casting agent Ethel Winant, who called her in to audition for the role of Rhoda Morgenstern on The Mary Tyler Moore Show . She co-starred from 1970--1974 and then starred in the spin - off series, Rhoda (CBS 1974 - 1978) in which her character returned to New York . </P> <P> She won four Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award for her work as Rhoda Morgenstern throughout this period . In 2000, Harper reunited with Moore in Mary and Rhoda, a TV movie that brought their characters together again in later life . The first season of Rhoda was released on DVD on April 21, 2009, by Shout! Factory . </P>

Who played rhoda on mary tyler moore show