I should have known that Valerie Harper wouldn’t be that easy to work with. Anyone who managed to get kicked off her own series, get killed off, and then sue the producers (and win) was going to be a worthy adversary. I probably don’t need to tell you that I am referring to the series Valerie, which was eventually changed to The Hogan Family following the great Valerie Harper contract dispute. But even more famously than that, she played the iconic character Rhoda Morgenstern in The Mary Tyler Moore Show for its first four seasons, and then in the spin-off series Rhoda for five more.
I make no qualms in admitting that I was ecstatic to meet Valerie Harper when she appeared at the Hollywood Show on February 11, 2012. But my mouth eventually dropped to check out her exorbitant prices. Since I had already picked up a signed photo of Harper from a dealer many years ago (as seen at the top of the posting), I opted to just skip any further signatures and just shell out the xx for a photo op.
Even though the prices were outrageous, I soon began to have non-buyers remorse, in not getting her to sign the Mary Tyler Moore cast photo that I had purchased from Cloris Leachman in 2010. So when Valerie was scheduled to make another personal appearance, this time at the Chiller Theatre show on October 27, 2012, I decided to shell out some more cash and get this photo signed as well.
At first, I thought the prices were reasonable; she was charging $25 per signed item. But then I read the fine print, that this price was only good for the items on her table. Outside items would be $50. That’s when I pulled out the ‘blog’ card. This isn’t something I normally do, but I have found that in several cases the mention of being ‘exposed’ on this ‘celebrity’ blog as a money-grubbing weasel is enough to make a celebrity or two have a change of heart about pricing structure.
In this case, it may or may not have worked. Suddenly I was made aware by Valerie that if she personalized the item, thus decreasing the eBay selling value, that it would only be $25 after all. Not really having much of an interest in ever selling autographs, I found this to be perfectly acceptable. She noted with a smile, “you just saved yourself $25.”
Valerie was wearing her trademark Rhoda bandana on her head during this appearance and I thought it might be a nice touch to get another photo with me and her as she was more ‘in costume’ than before. I explained that I had paid for the photo op earlier in the year and wandered if she’d like an updated one on the blog. “Nah, I haven’t changed that much,” she replied.
No, she certainly hasn’t. I’m sure the Valerie producers and I could have a nice, long chat.
Celebrities of the Winter 2012 Hollywood Show will continue…
Celebrities of the Fall 2012 Chiller Theatre Show will continue…
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