Ed Asner Speaks Out After 'Great Friend' Valerie Harper's Death: 'Goodnight Beautiful'

Ed Asner is paying tribute to his late costar and “great friend,” Valerie Harper.

“Valerie was a brilliant artist with a myriad of ideas on how to make the character more interesting; and was a fighter for those less fortunate,” said Asner, 89.

The actor also shared an emotional post on Twitter, where he called Harper “a beautiful woman, a wonderful actress, a great friend and with balls bigger than mine.”

“Her brilliance burst through and shined its light upon all of us,” he wrote alongside a smiling throwback photo of theMary Tyler Moore Showcostars holdingEmmy Awards. (She starred as Rhoda Morgenstern and he as Lou Grant on the 1970s sitcom.)

“Goodnight beautiful. I’ll see you soon,” he concluded.

The star died at 10:06 a.m., herfamily confirmedto ABC7. Her cause of death was not immediately known.

Harper had been battling a number of health issues over the past few years, includingleptomeningeal carcinomatosis, lung cancer and brain cancer.

In late July,Asner shared a tweet honoring Harper, just two days after the actress’ husband Tony Cacciotti revealed thatdoctors had advised herto be moved to hospice care.

“My heart goes out to @ValerieHarper and her husband Tony,” Asner wrote. “I hope you feel my love coming at you like a tidal wave.”

Harper was diagnosed with leptomeningeal carcinomatosis in 2013, just four years after she beat lung cancer. The condition occurs when cancer cells spread into the fluid-filled membrane surrounding the brain, known as the meninges.

source: people.com