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Valerie is an amazing actress. You look at her and you think she's so beautiful and it seems so easy for her you think, well, there couldn't be the stuff in there, but then, the camera rolls and the director says action and she is right there and she goes as deep as you need her to go. She's amazing.

What's next is probably going to be a surprise for most fans of the star that stole our hearts as Barbara Cooper. After all, she is all grown up, and has even changed the color of her hair to be sure to redefine herself in the minds of anyone who may have stereotyped her as that All-American girl with the All-American smile.

Valerie says they believe they own a piece of her, which is a little scary sometimes. Like she gets asked why she colored her hair, well, because she felt like it, yes, but you look much better as a brunette, ok, but it's her hair, and it's just hair, ok, get over it. At first she started out with streaks, and then all of a sudden, next time her mother saw her, she was a blond.

For Valerie, life is about learning to accept herself. The older she gets, the better everything seems to fit. Even her nagging insecurities are beginning to leave her, though not completely. Valerie is not going to be those Chanel models that look like you blow on them and they bowl over, that's not her, she's Italian, and that's just the way she is.

Valerie was a very shy young girl who was lucky enough to have a chance to make her most cherished dreams come true. But that dream isn't what most people think of when they see her on television and in the celebrity pages of newspapers and magazines. It's not the stardom, but the sense of family that she has created with her husband Eddie, her son Wolfie, and her parents and brothers. She's not the least bit aggresive about her career. For the 15-year-old that Norman Lear plucked out of a casting call in 1975, life has turned out very well. She has mangaged with the strength of husband and family to avoid the pitfalls of troubles that have destroyed many Hollywood careers. The key was learning to love herself and allowing others to love her back.

Valerie, Eddie and Wolfie still reside in Southern California, reportedly in Malibu in the Western Los Angeles county area, where Valerie also has two other well-known friends, Jane Leeves and Faith Ford, both of which recently got married in the 1990s.

It's no secret that Valerie educates her fans, and even some pro-David Lee Roth extremesists, on the Internet in the Van-Halen newsgroup until the nuts took over, but I'm not sure what moniker she goes by (I rather let Valerie tell you in a official press release, because if I told you, chances are, you wouldn't believe me, and I'm not telling anyway,) as well as on the Van Halen Mailing List.

In real life, among all her achievements she ever performed over the course of her life, her greatest satisfaction comes from the husband she loves, rock guitarist extrodanare Eddie Van Halen, from the being a mother to her son, Wolfgang, and by working together through their tough times, they helped make their marriage as strong as ever. In reality, she possesses a very healthy set of family values and she's totally committed to making her life a happy one. Though a superstar, Valerie chooses to be a wife and mother first, and an actress second. The couple has been together over 17 years, despite the separations and temptations of rock tours. How? "We have a brilliant therapist," she says with a laugh.

Married since 1981, an eternity for showbiz couples, the two have muddled through Van Halen's tumultuous relationship with singer David Lee Roth, Bertinelli's 1986 miscarriage, and Van Halen's alcoholism (which he says he now has under control). These days, despite their careers (Bertinelli was last seen in last February's 'Night Sins' on CBS; Van Halen and crew released a new album "Van Halen 3" on March 17, 1998, and they keep a relatively low profile---opting for quiet nights with son Wolfgang, born March 16, 1991, in their home over-looking the San Fernando Valley. "At 6 o'clock, no matter what I'm doing. I quit, because that's family time," Van Halen says. "We eat dinner, together, discuss the school day, Valerie's day, and my day."

Bertinelli has attributed their "secure relationship" to "communication and trust. Besides loving each other, we really like each other."

Then again, it may just be destiny, according to what they learned in a 1986 visit to a Toronto psychic. Bertinelli told PEOPLE magazine that "we found out that in a past life I was his mother and in another past life I was his sister." Three lifetimes together, and they don't seem to tired of each other yet.

Note to directors: Challenge Valerie Bertinelli and she'll do your film. She's still a TV movie queen, a bankable star, and still has a loyal following.

Updated information 4-01

It was on the set of "One Day" that she made a friend for life in MacKenzie Phillips. Mackenzie said that Valerie came on as a chubby little girl and turned out into an absolute beauty. On screen, MacKenzie was her older sister. Off screen, Mac's drug problems were a life lesson. Valerie explains, "I think that's what made me against drugs was because when you live with someone in that kind of capacity you see them everyday at work and you see what they're doing to themselves. It really makes you against drugs."

Valerie and MacKenzie say they are closer today than they've ever been. In fact, MacKenzie just moved into a home a mile away from Valerie and her family. The former case of "One Day" all keep tabs on each other.

Valerie still has the same Sergio Valente jeans she once wore as a teen.

Though Valerie's content to be a stay-at-home most of the time, she says she does miss working.

Valeire says on ET that "When I see shows like 'The West Wing,' I would like die to be on a show like that. If I could do a guest shot on that, or, I love 'Sex in the City,' I love 'Will and Grace,' those kind of shows, but they're very rare that those kind of shows come up, they're one in a million. So I'll just enjoy them and watch them in the comfort of my bed."

Although Valerie had taped over 200 episodes of "One Day at a Time," she tells ET that her son Wolfie has never seen a single episode of them.

In March 18/20, 2001, she appearred on Who Wants to Be a Millioniaire as she won $125,000 playing for The Silver Lining Foundation charity.

At the time she did the game show, she says she was eager to return to TV. In that month, Valerie landed a regular role on the CBS series "Touched By an Angel," that began airing on April 29th, six days after her birthday. In the eight years she has been starring in the series, actress Roma Downey decided that it was time for her to leave the series, paving the way for Valerie to join the series as a 21st century angel set out to rescue souls who are lost in the world of technology.