A playwright is suing brain cancer-stricken Valerie Harper, claiming the beloved “Rhoda” actress ruined his production — by not telling anyone she was deathly ill.
Matthew Lombardo wants Harper to fork over $2 million — $500,000 in addition to $1.5 in punitive damages, according to a lawsuit cited by TMZ.
Harper announced last March that she had been diagnosed with brain cancer and had just months to live.
She bravely defied the odds and even went to compete in “Dancing With the Stars” this past fall.
While America cheered the actress’ courageous fight for life, Lombardo said Harper was wrong for keeping her cancer to herself until her March 2013 announcement.
Harper had plenty of chances to disclose her ailment because she was forgetting her lines at rehearsals for the “Looped” road show in 2012, the suit claims.
“Looped,” with Harper as its headliner, lasted for just 27 previews and 25 performances at the Lyceum Theater in 2010.
Despite that poor box-office showing, Harper picked up a Tony Award nomination, as Lombardo and producers planned to take “Looped” on the road.
The 2012-13 show was on a national tour, which included scheduled stops in Hartford, Fort Lauderdale and Baltimore.
But while rehearsing for the Connecticut shows in January 2013, Harper fell ill and had to be scratched from the cast.
Lombardo and producers scrambled to come up with a replacement, and settled on “Hart to Hart” actress Stefanie Powers.
The plaintiffs are suing over the inconvenience and behind-the-scenes drama that Harper allegedly caused by keeping quiet about cancer, according to Lombardo’s lawsuit.
“Looped” is set in 1965, with Harper playing hard-drinking actress Tallulah Bankhead.
In the dark comedy, a drunk Bankhead has to record one line — a loop — for her last flick, “Die, Die, My Darling.”
But in her wasted state, the Hollywood diva struggles to nail the simple line, leading to comedic mayhem in the sound room.
The real-life “Die, Die, My Darling” starred Bankhead and a young Powers, who was just 22 when the movie came out.
Earlier this month, Harper had to clear up reports that stated she was cancer-free.
Harper explained that a reporter misunderstood her statement that a full body scan had shown that her cancer — which started in the actress’ lungs and spread to her brain — had not spread any further.
“I am still not cured. I am a cancer patient, and I continue to fight with the hope that a cure may be just around the corner,” Harper sad.