See 10 of Valerie Bertinelli's Most Fabulous Throwback Photos
See 10 of Valerie Bertinelli's Most Fabulous Throwback Photos
Kate Hogan, Emily KrauserWed, June 24, 2026 at 10:00 AM UTC
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From left: Valerie Bertinelli poses for a portrait in Los Angeles in 1985; Valerie Bertinelli attends an FYC screening of Lifetime's 'Love, Again' at the Television Academy's Wolf Theatre at the Saban Media Center in North Hollywood, Calif., on April 30, 2026Credit: Harry Langdon/Getty; Michael Tullberg/Getty
Valerie Bertinelli has known how to strike a pose for decades!
The Golden Globe-winning actress, who was born in Delaware and moved around the country as a kid before settling in Los Angeles, has been famous since she was a teenager, when she broke through at age 15 on One Day at a Time.
The hit CBS sitcom aired from 1975 to 1984. Since then, she's starred in several TV movies and series, including Touched by an Angel and Hot in Cleveland, and taken home two Daytime Emmy Awards as a host on the Food Network. She also joined The Drew Barrymore Showas a lifestyle expert in 2024 and launched a digital platform, Valerie's Place, in 2026, among other projects.
Bertinelli and Eddie Van Halen were married from April 1981 to December 2007 and shared one child, son Wolfgang. They were on good terms when Eddie died of throat cancer in October 2020.
These days, Bertinelli is all about reminiscing. She's written a handful of books — including her most recent, the 2026 memoir Getting Naked: The Quiet Work of Becoming Perfectly Imperfect — and frequently posts throwback photos on Instagram, which means fans can regularly take journeys back to the '70s and '80s right alongside her.
From her early sitcom days to her family life, look back at some of Valerie Bertinelli's best throwback photos.
01 of 10
Fresh Faced
Valerie Bertinelli poses for a portrait in the 1970sCredit: Archive Photos/Getty
As her television career kicked off, Bertinelli became a pro at posing for portraits. In this photo from the 1970s, a teenage Bertinelli sports a coy smile as she poses against a fence in a floral sleeveless dress.
Her screen acting debut came in 1974 on the CBS drama Apple's Way.
02 of 10
Teen Beat
Valerie Bertinelli in a portrait from the 1970sCredit: Alamy Stock Photo
Bertinelli loves a #tbt! She often shares throwback photos with her followers on social media, including this black-and-white portrait posted on Instagram in November 2025.
The Valerie's Home Cooking alum captioned the photo: "This picture was taken in 1975. I'm 15. I'm a child. I'm gonna say this a little louder for those in the back row. I'm FIFTEEN. I'M A CHILD."
"It doesn't matter that I got a job. It doesn't matter what I was doing. I was a child," she added, before suggesting to her followers, "Maybe we should flood the Internet with pictures of all of us at 15?"
03 of 10
One Hang at a Time
Clockwise from top: Mackenzie Phillips as Julie Cooper, Valerie Bertinelli as Barbara Cooper and Bonnie Franklin as Ann Romano on 'One Day at a Time' in 1977Credit: CBS/Getty
The Love, Againactress posed for a very sweet late '70s promo photo with her former One Day at a Time costars Bonnie Franklin and Mackenzie Phillips. Franklin, who died of pancreatic cancer in March 2013, portrayed single mother Ann Romano on the sitcom, while Bertinelli and Phillips played her daughters, Barbara and Julie, respectively.
Bertinelli can still vividly recall her first day on set.
"Whenever I think of One Day at a Time, I can smell it. I can smell the stage because it was my first big job," she recalled on an episode of The Drew Barrymore Show in January 2026.
She continued, "I'm holding the doorknob, and I can see the audience because I'm right here and I'm about to go in. I have my basketball, I'm fifteen years old, and I'm saying my line over and over: 'Mom, Mom, I made the team, Mom, Mom, I made the team,' because I wanted to make sure I got my first line right. ...This is what's so weird, I remember thinking I'm going to be able to show this to my children one day."
04 of 10
Oscar Date Night
Valerie Bertinelli holds hands with Steven Spileberg as they arrive at rehersals for the 52nd annual Academy Awards in 1980Credit: Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty
Bertinelli was all smiles as she held hands with director Steven Spielberg ahead of the 1980 Academy Awards. The pair dated briefly before Bertinelli met Eddie.
Her dating history with Spielberg isn't necessarily common knowledge.
During an episode of The Drew Barrymore Show, Bertinelli left host Drew Barrymore and Ross Mathews shocked when she revealed that she and the director dated "for a New York minute."
"I had a ball with him," the Claire star said in April 2025.
Bertinelli shared that Spielberg had asked her out on a date after she read for Raiders of the Lost Ark and that "we were together for, I don't know, three or four months."
05 of 10
Rockin' Wedding
Valerie Bertinelli and Eddie Van Halen at St. Paul's Catholic Church in Westwood, Calif., on their wedding day on April 11, 1981Credit: Ron Galella/WireImage
They do! Bertinelli and Van Halen had their photo snapped just moments after their 1981 nuptials in Westwood, Calif.
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"I met Ed when I was 20. I was too young to know better. I know that I might get in trouble for saying this, but I'm going to say it anyway because maybe somebody else feels this way — I wish I knew then what I know now," she told PEOPLE in 2026, adding, "I wish I had more compassion back then."
The couple officially divorced in 2007. Bertinelli acknowledged, "We still probably would've divorced, because he wasn't ready to get sober, and I had to protect Wolfie."
06 of 10
Glamour Shot
Valerie Bertinelli poses during a portrait session in L.A. in 1985Credit: Harry Langdon/Getty
One year after she ended her run on One Day at a Time, the actress got glam for a portrait session in L.A. In one photo from the 1985 photoshoot, she posed against a bright purple background while wearing a fuzzy V-neck sweater and blue jeans. She accessorized the look with a gold necklace and topped it off with fuchsia lipstick.
07 of 10
Totally Rad
Valerie Bertinelli poses for a portrait in L.A., circa 1987Credit: Aaron Rapoport/Corbis/Getty
Bertinelli went full '80s workout glam for a 1987 portrait session. Her outfit included a metallic jacket, leggings, pink scrunched-down socks and white Nike sneakers, though the real star of the show was her hair, which was lighter than usual, fluffed up and styled with bangs.
In October 2025, the actress shared her cover photo for Orange Coast magazine, which showed her in a green satin jumpsuit while holding a saw.
Her caption fit not only the image but the entire decade.
"I know the '80s were bonkers, but what in the green-satin-onesie were we thinking? 😅," she joked on Instagram.
08 of 10
Birthday Girl
Valerie Bertinelli shows off a birthday cake with her likeness on the set of 'Sydney' in L.A. in April 1990Credit: Jim Smeal/Ron Galella Collection via Getty
In April 1990, the actress celebrated her 30th birthday on the set of her short-lived sitcom Sydney, which ran from March to June of that year. For the on-set fête, she was greeted with a cake featuring her likeness.
"It was a lot of fun," she said of the series on The Drew Barrymore Show in September 2025. "It had a lot of problems, though. But I must say, Craig Bierko and Matthew Perry are probably two of the funniest men I've ever had the pleasure of working with in a sitcom. So funny."
After the series was abruptly canceled, Bertinelli knew it was "time" to start her family.
"And I got pregnant a couple weeks later," she said. "I was like, 'I'm 30. We're either gonna do it now or we're not, Ed.' And he was like, 'Yeah, yeah!' "
09 of 10
Mama Moment
Valerie Bertinelli and son Wolfgang in Wilmington, N.C., in October 1991Credit: Valerie Bertinelli/Instagram
Bertinelli and Van Halen welcomed their only child together, son Wolfgang, on March 16, 1991, a date she's called "the best day of my life."
"Every day of my life has had more joy, more fun, more laughter, more meaning, more clarity, and more love because you came into it," she wrote in part in a tribute on Instagram for Wolfgang's 35th birthday in 2026.
In August 2025, the actress shared a throwback photo of herself and her then-baby boy from October 1991, when she was filming the miniseries In a Child's Name in Wilmington, N.C., noting, "A single picture can evoke a few #sundaymemories❤️."
"My mom and Ed watched Wolfie while I was on set. 112 heat index and I'm wearing wool and pregnancy padding on my first day of shooting as rain pours down. [Christopher Meloni] (who played my husband) found us a place to play racquetball," she recalled on Instagram. "Hurricane Bob came through at one point and shut the movie down."
She added, "You might recognize the sofa from the Mammoth Distance video where Ed is playing with Wolfie on the floor. 🥰."
10 of 10
Round and Round
From left: Valerie Bertinelli, Eddie Van Halen and son Wolfgang in N.Y.C.'s Central Park in 1993Credit: Valerie Bertinelli/Instagram
Son Wolfgang stole the show while hanging with his mom and dad in N.Y.C.'s Central Park in 1993.
All grown up these days, Wolfgang is a musician like his late father.
He joined his dad's band Van Halen as a teenager and was part of the group through 2020, when they disbanded following Van Halen's death from throat cancer at age 65, and has since released albums as the one-man band Mammoth.
"Every time I go see Wolfie perform, I wish his dad was standing next to me so we could, like, laugh and giggle and see who could whistle the loudest, but he's not here," she said during a conversation at the 2026 Los Angeles Times Festival of Books.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
