Valerie Bertinelli
Valerie Bertinelli | |
|---|---|
 Eddie Van Halen and Valerie Bertinelli at the 1993 Emmy Awards | |
| Born | Valerie Anne Bertinelli |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1974–present |
| Spouse |
(divorced)
Tom Vitale (m. 2011) |
Valerie Anne Bertinelli (born April 23, 1960) is an American actress, best known for her roles as Barbara Cooper Royer on the television series One Day at a Time (1975-1984), Gloria on the television series Touched by an Angel (1997-2003) and Melanie Moretti on the sitcom Hot in Cleveland (2010–present).
Early years
Bertinelli was born in Wilmington, Delaware[1] to Irish/Italian-American parents Nancy (née Carvin) and Luke Bertinelli (a General Motors executive). She had an older brother, Mark, who died at 17 months from an accidental poisoning before Valerie was born.[2] Along with her other three brothers, one older and two younger, the family lived in Claymont, Delaware, and Clarkston, Michigan. They later moved to Oklahoma City before moving to the Los Feliz section of Los Angeles, California, where Bertinelli studied acting at the Tami Lynn School of Artists. She attended Granada Hills High School until 1978 but did not graduate. As of January 2008, she was pursuing the last few credits needed for her high school diploma.[1] She was raised Roman Catholic.[3]
Career
One Day at a Time
Following her appearance in an episode of Apple's Way, Bertinelli was approached by producer Norman Lear to audition for the role of cooperative daughter Barbara Cooper in a new sitcom called One Day at a Time. The show debuted in late 1975. For the show's first season, Bertinelli was 15 and her character was written as a tomboy. The following year, in the show's first full season, Bertinelli's character was revised to be more appealing to a traditional male demographic.[citation needed] Bertinelli appeared in 207 out of the 209 episodes before the show left the airwaves on May 28, 1984. At one point, she and Bonnie Franklin, who played her mother Ann Romano, were involved in plans for a spin-off series, but it was never produced.
Three decades later, in 2005, during the One Day at a Time Reunion Special, Bertinelli was reunited with fellow cast members Franklin, Mackenzie Phillips, and Pat Harrington, Jr. to watch memorable clips from the original show's nine seasons. They talked about actors who had left the show as well as Phillips' drug problem, which had wreaked havoc on the set and caused Phillips to be fired from the show.
Post-One Day at a Time
After One Day at a Time, Bertinelli continued to act. In addition to starring in several made for TV movies and mini-series, she starred in two sitcoms in the 1990s, Sydney and Café Americain. In 2001, she joined the cast of Touched By An Angel, opposite Roma Downey and Della Reese, for the show's last two seasons.
Bertinelli, who had struggled with weight issues over the years, has lost a total of 50 lb (23 kg) as of March 2009, and had become a spokesperson for the Jenny Craig weight-loss program.[4] She appeared in several Jenny Craig commercials along with Kirstie Alley and other celebrity Jenny Craig participants.
Although Bertinelli is compensated for her Jenny Craig appearances, she has stated that she considers herself a health and weight-loss activist rather than a hired weight-loss spokesperson. In 2008 she released the autobiography, Losing It: And Gaining My Life Back One Pound At A Time, which culminates in a description of her Jenny Craig experience (the book's title contains a wordplay on One Day at a Time). In 2009, she wrote a follow-up book Finding It: And Satisfying My Hunger for Life without Opening the Fridge.
On March 4, 2010, Bertinelli appeared as guest co-host on ABC's The View in the absence of Whoopi Goldberg. She now stars in the TV Land series Hot in Cleveland,[5] a situation comedy which debuted in June 2010, along with Betty White, Wendie Malick, and Jane Leeves.[6] The show's second season begins in January 2011.
Personal life
Before marriage, Bertinelli dated Steven Spielberg.[7]
Bertinelli married Eddie Van Halen on April 11, 1981. They have a son Wolfgang "Wolfie" William Van Halen (born March 16, 1991) together. She says in Losing It that her husband became addicted to cocaine, which led to her giving him an ultimatum to quit drugs, or she would divorce him.[2] On December 5, 2005, she filed for divorce, which was finalized two years later on December 20, 2007.[8] Bertinelli has been in a relationship with financial planner Tom Vitale since 2004. On May 20, 2010, they announced their engagement to be married and were married on January 1, 2011, in Malibu, California.[9]
On April 19, 2010, Bertinelli walked in the Boston Marathon to benefit the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. She completed the walk with a time of 5:14:37.[10]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Apple's Way | Peggy | 1 episode – "The Flag" |
| 1975–1984 | One Day at a Time | Barbara Cooper Royer | 207 episodes
|
| 1978 | The CBS Festival of Lively Arts for Young People | Mamie Dickens | 1 episode – "The Secret of Charles Dickens" |
| The Hardy Boys | Wendy Chase/Gwynn | 1 episode – "Campus Terror" | |
| 1979 | Young Love, First Love | Robin Gibson | TV |
| C.H.O.M.P.S | Casey Norton | ||
| 1980 | The Promise of Love | Kathy Wakeman | TV |
| 1981 | The Princess and the Cabbie | Joanna James | TV |
| 1982 | I Was a Mail Order Bride | Katarine 'Kate' Tosconi | TV |
| 1984 | The Seduction of Gina | Gina Breslin | TV |
| Shattered Vows | Mary Gilligan | TV | |
| 1985 | Silent Witness | Anna Dunne | TV |
| 1986 | Ordinary Heroes | Maria | |
| Faerie Tale Theatre: Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp | Princess Sabrina | TV | |
| Rockabye | Susannah Bartok | TV | |
| 1987 | Number One with a Bullet | Teresa Barzak | |
| I'll Take Manhattan | Maxime 'Maxi' Amberville (Cipriani) | ||
| 1988 | Pancho Barnes | Pancho Barnes | TV |
| 1989 | Taken Away | Stephanie Monroe | TV |
| 1990 | Sydney | Sydney Kells | 13 episodes |
| 1991 | In a Child's Name | Angela Cimarelli | TV |
| 1992 | What She Doesn't Know | Molly Kilcoin | aka Shades of Gray |
| 1993 | Murder of Innocence | Laurie Wade | TV |
| Café Americain | Holly Aldrige/Holly Aldrich | 16 episodes,1993–1994 | |
| 1995 | The Haunting of Helen Walker | Helen Walker | TV |
| 1996 | A Case for Life | Kelly Porter | TV |
| Two Mothers for Zachary | Jody Ann Shaffell | TV | |
| 1997 | Night Sins | SBI Agent Megan O'Malley | TV |
| Touched by an Angel | Gloria | 59 episodes, 3 seasons | |
| 2000 | Personally Yours | Susannah Stanton | aka Wilderness Love |
| 2003 | Crazy Love | Wife | TV |
| Finding John Christmas | Kathleen McAllister | TV | |
| 2004 | Saved! | Cameo (as herself) | |
| 2006 | The Rachael Ray Show | Herself | |
| 2007 | Claire | Claire Bannion | TV |
| 2008 | True Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet | Aunt Trudy | |
| Boston Legal | Carol Hober | 1 episode-"Mad Cows" | |
| The Doctors | Syndicated | special guest, February 6, 2009 episode | |
| 2010 | More Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet | Aunt Trudy | In talk |
| Hot in Cleveland | Melanie Moretti |
Commercials
| Year | Title | Role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | J.C. Penney | Herself | at age 12 |
| 2007– | Jenny Craig |
Production companies
References
- ^ a b c Valerie Bertinelli at IMDb
- ^ a b Bertinelli, Valerie (2008). Losing It: And Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time. Free Press.
- ^ "Lifetime TV". Lifetime TV. Retrieved 2010-07-04.
- ^ "Valerie Bertinelli Back in Bikini for 49th Birthday!". People.com. 2009-03-25. Retrieved 2009-03-29.
- ^ "Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves and Wendie Malick will be 'Hot in Cleveland'=Cleveland.com". 2010-01-14. Retrieved 2010-01-14.
- ^ Littleton, Cynthia (2010-03-16). "Betty White gets regular gig on sitcom". Variety. Retrieved 2010-03-17.
- ^ "Valerie Bertinelli: My Early Romance with Steven Spielberg". People.com. 2008-02-22. Retrieved 2008-02-22.
- ^ CNN, retrieved 2007-12-22[dead link]
- ^ 'Hot in Cleveland' Star Valerie Bertinelli Marries from ABC News
- ^ Jenny Craig Success Story Valerie Bertinelli Completes the Boston Marathon from TradingMarkets.com
- ^ "YahooMovies, retrieved 2007-08-10". Movies.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2010-07-04.