Sitcoms Online Photo Galleries - Rhoda: David Groh and Valerie Harper

Rhoda aired from September 1974 until December 1978 on CBS.

As Mary Richards' friend and neighbor on The Mary Tyler Moore Show , Rhoda ( Valerie Harper) had been somewhat overweight, insecure in her relationships with men, and jealous of the trim Mary. Over the years, however, she had slimmed down, and when she returned home to New York for a visit at the start of Rhoda in the fall of 1974, she was a more attractive and self-confident person. The visit turned into a permanent change of residence when she met and fell in love with Joe Gerard ( David Groh). Joe was the owner of the New York Wrecking Company , divorced, and the father of a 10-year-old son , Donny ( Todd Turquand). Rhoda moved in with her sister Brenda ( Julie Kavner), since living with her parents Ida and Martin ( Nancy Walker, Harold Gould) was just not working out, and got a job as a window dresser for a department store. The romance blossomed and, in a special full-hour telecast on October 28, 1974, Rhoda Morgenstern the husband-hunter became Rhoda Gerard.

The newlyweds moved into the same building in which Brenda and Rhoda had been living. Lorenzo Music was featured as the unseen Carlton, the doorman who would talk to Rhoda and Joe through the intercom. Meanwhile , Joe went off every day to the office to deal with his partner Justin ( Scoey Mitchell) while Rhoda was a relatively unoccupied housewife. Boredom precipitated her decision to start her own window-dressing business with a high school friend, shy Myrna ( Barbara Sharma), as a partner. With Rhoda happily married, the comedy shifted to her chubby sister, Brenda, a bank teller with constant problems trying to get a boyfriend, sort of a younger version of the Rhoda who started on The Mary Tyler Moore Show in 1970.

After two years about stories about wedded bliss the producers of Rhoda decided that a happily married couple was just not as funny as two single people trying to cope with the world. In order to create more flexibility in Rhoda's role, she and Joe seperated soon after the start of the 1976-1977 season. Now they were able to make new friends , suffer the adjustments of living apart, and again deal with the world of the lonely " single." Joe was gradually phased out of the show, preparatory to the inevitable divorce, and Rhoda joined her sister at mixers and singles bars. Rhoda's parents Ida and Martin were no longer on the show ( Nancy Walker was then starring in her own series, The Nancy Walker Show on ABC). Meanwhile Rhoda found a new friend in 39-year-old divorced airline stewardess Sally Gallagher ( Anne Meara), and both she and Brenda were frequently escourted by platonic friend Gary Levy( Ron Silver). In the middle of that season Rhoda began an off-again on-again romance with egocentric Las Vegas based entertainer Johnny Venture ( Michael Delano).

The 1977-1978 season brought another raft of changes . Rhoda found a new job working at the Doyle Costume Company, a run-down business struggling to survive. Jack Doyle ( Ken McMillan) was the owner of the company and his assistant was Ramon ( Rafael Campos). Brenda had a new boyfriend in Benny Goodwin ( Ray Buktenica who replaced the infrequently seen Las Vegas musician Nick Lobo, played by Richard Masur), and mother Ida had just returned from a year's traveling around the country. By the start of the last season Ida too was single, having been deserted by Martin.

During it's short run Rhoda earned two emmys ( one for Valerie Harper in 1975 and one for Julie Kavner in 1978) and two Golden Globes ( one for Harper and one for the series itself, both in 1975). All together it earned eleven emmy nominations and two Golden Globe nominations . The series has since earned a reputation as a classic in its own right.

Here is Nancy Walker's Obituary from The New York Times

Nancy Walker, 69, of 'Rhoda' And TV Commercials, Is Dead

By JAMES BARRON
Published: March 27, 1992

Nancy Walker, who played Rhoda's mother, McMillan and wife's housekeeper and a paper-towel-promoting waitress in television commercials, along with a string of brassy, loudmouthed cutups on Broadway, died on Wednesday at her home in Studio City, Calif. She was 69 years old.

She died of lung cancer, said Frank Liberman, a family spokesman.

A long-faced, red-haired, petite actress, Miss Walker said she was never able to play what she called a "gray character."

"I don't understand it myself," she said in 1976, "but I have this effect on people, so when I walk onstage, they start laughing."

That is pretty much what happened when through a case of mistaken identity she got her big break on Broadway at age 19. Her father, who was an acrobat, asked his agent to send her to see the producer George Abbott, who was auditioning actors for a new comedy, "Best Foot Forward." Genesis of a Comedian

She was introduced as Miss Walker -- Mr. Abbott and Richard Rodgers had been expecting a singer named Helen Walker -- and began belting out a song called "Bounce Me Brother With a Solid Four." Mr. Abbott built up the "blind date" role in "Best Foot Forward" from five lines to a leading role, making her an instant success.

She knew from age 10, she said, that she wanted to be a performer. But she said she did not realize that she could be a comedian until she started getting laughs in "Best Foot Forward."

"After that," she said, "people just kept writing parts for me."

But she said it was not a case of art imitating life. "Not so talkative" was how she once compared herself with the chatty characters she played onstage and on television.

"I've always thought people who are on , offstage, save very little for onstage," she said in 1976. "You can't keep the mask on all the time: it flakes." Stealing a Show

Miss Walker, whose name was originally Anna Myrtle Swoyer, was born on May 10, 1922, in Philadelphia. Her father changed his name to Dewey Barto when he joined a vaudeville act called the Three Bartos. When Miss Walker was 3 weeks old, her mother went back on the vaudeville circuit herself, and Miss Walker slept backstage. She crawled out into the spotlight one night when she was 10 months old and stole the show.

After her success in "Best Foot Forward," M-G-M flew her to Hollywood and signed her to a seven-year contract. She appeared in the movie version of the play and in "Girl Crazy" and "Broadway Rhythm," playing variations of the blind-date character she had mastered on Broadway. She also appeared in "Lucky Me," which starred.

On Broadway, she also starred as the jaded cabdriver Brunnhilde Esterhazy in "On the Town" in 1944 and later appeared in "Pal Joey," "Wonderful Town," "Look, Ma, I'm Dancin"' and "Do, Re, Mi," a spoof of the jukebox industry in which she played Phil Silvers's long-suffering wife. 'The Quicker Picker-Upper'

She was also the face that launched a million rolls of paper towels in television commercials beginning in the 1970's, saying: "Bounty. It's the quicker picker-upper."

She was not defensive about making commercials. "One minute's work done well is just as important as one hour," she said. "Look, if it were a bad minute, I'd feel terrible, because I get paid very well, and that would be cheating. I'm not cheating anybody. I mean, an artist is an artist no matter what he does. Besides, if I weren't doing those commercials well, I'd not have gotten on the Mary Tyler Moore show."

On "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," she played Rhoda Morgenstern's overbearing mother, and went on to a regular role when Valerie Harper, as Rhoda, got a series of her own. In 1974, when Rhoda was finally married after a long run as Miss Moore's unmarried best friend, all Rhoda and Joe wanted was a small ceremony before a justice of the peace. But as Rhoda's mother, Ida Morgenstern, Miss Walker was determined to have a slightly more elaborate ceremony in her Bronx apartment. Rhoda wanted no more than a dozen guests. Ida invited 79.

The show "Rhoda" ended in 1978, after a five-year run. Miss Walker also appeared in the series "McMillan and Wife" from 1971 to 1976, playing a sassy housekeeper. She was also the host of "The Nancy Walker Show," which had a brief run in 1976.

Miss Walker's most recent work was a starring role in "True Colors," a sitcom on Fox.

Miss Walker is survived by her husband, David Craig; a daughter, Miranda Craig, and a sister, Betty Lou Barto, both of Los Angeles.

Here is Lorenzo Music's Obituary from The New York Times

Lorenzo Music -- Actor, 64

Published: August 8, 2001

Lorenzo Music, the distinctive voice of Garfield the cartoon cat and Carlton, the unseen doorman on the television show ''Rhoda,'' died on Saturday at his home here. He was 64.

The cause was lung cancer, said his wife, Henrietta.

Mr. Music won an Emmy Award as a writer for ''The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour'' in 1969 and went on to become a story editor for ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show.'' He and his wife wrote the theme song for ''The Bob Newhart Show,'' which he created with his partner, David Davis. Mr. Music and Mr. Davis also created ''Rhoda,'' a spinoff from ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show.''

Mr. Music went on to work full time as a voice actor, portraying several cartoon characters, including the popular and sardonic Garfield in prime-time animated specials and for a Saturday morning series that ran for seven years.

Born Gerald David Music in Brooklyn, he grew up in Duluth, Minn., and attended the University of Minnesota.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by four children.

Here is David Groh's Obituary from The New York Times

David Groh of ‘Rhoda’ Dies at 68

By DOUGLAS MARTIN
Published: February 15, 2008

David Groh, who in the 1970s sitcom “Rhoda” played Joe, the groom whose wedding to the title character became one of the highest-rated events of its time, died Tuesday in Los Angeles, where he lived. He was 68.

The cause was kidney cancer, said his sister-in-law Catherine Mullally.

Seven episodes after “Rhoda” emerged on Sept. 9, 1974, as a spinoff of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” Rhoda Morgenstern (Valerie Harper), who was Mary’s best friend, married Joe Gerard, who ran a wrecking company. The advance publicity was immense, and the episode, on CBS, made television history.

When the couple separated in the third season and later divorced, viewers, assuming the actors were married in real life, sent letters of condolence.

Mr. Groh also drew a devoted following when he played D. L. Brock in the ABC soap opera “General Hospital” from 1983 to 1985. He left the role to appear off Broadway in “Be Happy for Me,” even though he told The New York Times that his living expenses in New York actually surpassed his pay for the play. Theater was his love, he explained.

Reviewing the play, Frank Rich called Mr. Groh “completely convincing as the brash gold-chain-and-bikini-clad Lothario.”

David Lawrence Groh was born on May 21, 1939, in Brooklyn, where he attended Brooklyn Technical High School. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Brown University, studied acting in London on a Fulbright scholarship and served in the Army in 1963 and 1964.

He appeared in the Broadway productions of “Chapter Two” in 1978 and “The Twilight of the Golds” in 1993.

His television roles included recurring appearances on “Law & Order,” “Baywatch” and “Girlfriends.” His many guest-star appearances included roles on “The X-Files,” “Melrose Place,” “Murder, She Wrote” and “L.A. Law.”

His film credits included “Get Shorty” (1995) and “Victory at Entebbe” (1976), and in recent years he starred in several independent films.

Mr. Groh is survived by his wife, Kristin Andersen; his son, Spencer; his mother, Mildred Groh of the Los Angeles area; and his sister, Marilyn Mamann of the San Fernando Valley.

For the Rhoda Files go to http://members.tripod.com/~sniz/rhoda/files.htm

For more on Rhoda go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhoda