In The Beginning

O.K. Where do we begin? Well, why not start here!

Valerie Bertinelli is truly one of America's most successful actresses of our generation. With her button nose (not to be confused with that from Frosty The Snowman), pixie face, brunette hair, and a bright white smile (so does Marie Osmond), give her that all-American look. This is a star that has captured the hearts of American TV audiences for almost a quarter of a century. WOW! This lady could be your sister (poor Stan from South Park!), daughter, girlfriend, or just the girl next door. She's wholesome, sexy, perky, and simply lovable.

Valerie's father is Andy Bertinelli, an Italian and a former General Motors executive, and he married Nancy __maidenname___ on __________. At one time during Valerie's era, Andy worked on the Chunnel, or Channel Tunnel combined, linking England to France with an underwater tunnel, which opened in May 1996.

Valerie's mother is Nancy, an Irish and a housewife, and for the most part, Andy's boss in the house.

Valerie Bertinelli, with her middle name being Anne, was born to the Catholic family in a sleepy suburb of Wilmington, Delaware, on a Saturday Night, April 23, 1960, a Taurus, weighing in at 8lbs and 14ozs. From the start, she was a little angel. Her mother said she was not any problem, right after she was born.

To a mother who wish their daughters would model after, to a brother who probably would be better off without due to excessive cuteness, to a neighbor who yearns for a neighbor like, seems that Valerie was the dream girl on everybody's minds.

Andrew Jr. was their firstborn (year??), followed by a second son Mark (year???), both raised with strong Italian American values (whatever that may be, I'm one and to this day I still don't know what they are so please don't ask me) and a good solid Catholic upbringing. It was this faith that helped the Bertinellis cope with tragedy. While Nancy was pregnant with Valerie, little Mark died at 18 months from accidental digestion of poison from a Coke bottle at an old farm house. There would have been five, four boys and just Valerie; she never knew Mark sadly. Her other two brothers are David and Patrick. Valerie would have been exactly in the middle. Valerie couldn't imagine how her mother survived it.

With Valerie being in the middle, she believes she was spoiled rotten from one end of the family and really being given a hard time by the other end of the family. Her brothers, she says, gave her the hardest time, and they used to call her nicknames she wasn't fond of.

Valerie, being the middle child, got along very well, but it was the brothers who were the ones that fought. She was lovingly referred to her as the "Mother Hen", and it's a nickname Valerie loves now, but before when she was 6-7-8 years old, they used to call her "MOTHER!!!" and she used to hate it. We never would have guessed whether or not all these theories about middle children were really true or not, but somehow, Valerie made the most of it.

Even as a little girl, people noticed her beauty. Her mother says she's beautiful and she still is, she was a favorite of a lot of the nuns. The nuns, Nancy says, chose her to present flowers to a bishop when he came to give communion to all the children and it was an honor.