Groom on ''Rhoda'' Leaves The Set
Character actor David Groh, best known for his role in the sitcom wedding that became one of the 1970s' signature TV/pop-cultural events, died of Kidney cancer. He was 68.
The wedding helped establish the sitcom Rhoda as a stand-alone hit in 1974, ending the single-life laments of Valerie Harper's character — who had been spun off from the long-running Mary Tyler Moore Show — and turned into a national event.
On the show, the couple eventually divorced, and Groh left the series. He had worked steadily in TV and movies in the years since, including a stint on daytime drama General Hospital, and many guest appearances in prime time, including short arcs on Murder, She Wrote, Melrose Place, and V.I.P..I met Valerie Harper in the early 90's when she came by the Ebony Showcase Theater in Los Angeles to help save the black owned facility from being sold after the owner, Nick Stewart (Dink from Carmen Jones) and his wife Edna had ran out of money to keep it going. Harper was a class act, and it just made me appreciate her Rhoda character that much more.
Job well done Mr. Groh. Congratulations, you've been promoted!(AP via CNN)