Valerie Bertinelli Movies
During her nine-year (1975-1984) tenure as Barbara Cooper on TV's One Day at a Time,
Valerie Bertinelli grew from a chubby, awkward 15-year-old with only a smattering of bit-part credits into a polished actress and bona fide sex symbol. When
Bertinelli "married" her One Day co-star
Boyd Gaines in a 1982 episode, the ratings went through the roof, while many a male viewer's heart sank. One year earlier,
Bertinelli had been a bride for real; her marriage to rock star
Eddie Van Halen was kept under wraps by the series' producers for fear of damaging the actress' "Little Miss Perfect" image.
Bertinelli's son by
Van Halen was named Wolfgang, as in
Mozart. While still a One Day regular,
Bertinelli made the first of many TV-movie starring appearances in 1979's
Young Love, First Love; later small-screen projects -- most of them packaged by
Bertinelli's own production company, Bertinelli Inc. -- included
The Princess and the Cabbie (1981),
I Was a Mail Order Bride (1982),
Shattered Vows (1984),
The Seduction of Gina (1984),
Silent Witness (1985), and
Pancho Barnes (1988). Conversely, her theatrical-feature credits are limited, consisting only of
C.H.O.M.P.S. (1979) and
Ordinary Heroes (1985). In the years since One Day at a Time,
Valerie Bertinelli has starred in two short-lived TV series, Sydney (1990) and Café Americain (1993). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide