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Valerie Harper Hospitalized in Maine Before Theater Performance

Valerie Harper
Valerie Harper, who was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in 2013, was hospitalized in Maine on Wednesday, July 29

UPDATE: On Friday, July 31, York Hospital gave Us Weekly an update about Harper. "At York Hospital our patient’s privacy is of the utmost importance. As reports in the community have been released about Ms. Harper, we are able to acknowledge that she was brought to York Hospital on Wednesday evening but is no longer under our care," the statement read. "While our thoughts are with Ms. Harper and her family at this time, we are unable to provide any additional details on her condition or location."

ORIGINAL STORY: Valerie Harper was hospitalized in Maine on Wednesday, July 29. According to a press release from the Ogunquit Playhouse, where she's currently starring in the musical Nice Work If You Can Get It, the actress, who was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in 2013, reported feeling unwell before she was set to take the stage.

The theater noted that the hospital visit was a "precaution," and added, "She is resting comfortably and will remain in the hospital for observation for the time being."

"The Ogunquit Playhouse has been pleasantly overwhelmed by the outpouring of concern and affection for Valerie Harper and has been forwarding hundreds of well wishes to her from audience members and fans," the playhouse told Us in a statement Friday.

The local fire department tells Us Weekly that they responded to a call from the Ogunquit Playhouse about an unconscious 75-year-old woman at about 8:56 p.m. She was taken by ambulance around 9 p.m.

"Valerie has been performing in the Ogunquit production as Millicent Winter along with Sally Struthers as Duchess Estonia Dulworth," the Ogunquit Playhouse wrote on their website Thursday. Executive Artistic Director, Bradford T. Kenney, added: "The audiences and all of us here at the Playhouse are greatly enjoying our time with Valerie here in Ogunquit, and we are encouraged that she is feeling better."

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The Mary Tyler Moore Show star announced her cancer diagnosis in March 2013, and said that she was given three to six months to live. She has stayed optimistic ever since, even joining Season 17 of Dancing With the Stars to inspire others.

"I just feel so in the moment, so in this moment, so present," she told Us while competing on the ABC dancing competition in September 2013. "Anybody who's not living their life — I hope to inspire them. You've heard cancer people say it before — that they were lucky to get it because they were living more fully than ever before."

During her tough journey, Harper noted that while her cancer wasn't progressing, she wasn't cured of the disease. "In response to a recent erroneous quote concerning my health, I am not ‘absolutely cancer-free.’ I wish I were," she told Us in a statement in April 2014. "Right now what I am is cautiously optimistic about my present condition and I have hope for the future."

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Two months later, Harper brought that positive attitude to the 32nd Annual Fred & Adele Astaire Awards at NYU's Skirball Center for the Performing Arts. "It is looking better and better, each test. It's incurable, but that's okay," she told Us on June 2. "I'm doing quite well. The pills are a pain in the ass, but that's okay. I'm alive, so I can deal with the icky day or two." She added, "I was supposed to be dead in three months, and here it is a year and six months later."

She added: "I don't wake up thinking, 'I'm going to die.' I don't do that[," she continued. "It's a waste of time. It really is. My husband's [Tony Cacciotti] right there [when I wake up], and I think, 'Isn't he cute? Thank you, God, for this day.'"

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