Valerie Bertinelli Makes Blunt Confession About ‘One Day at a Time’ Boss Norman Lear

Michelle SteinFri, September 11, 2026 at 1:43 PM UTC

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ONE DAY AT A TIME, Valerie Bertinelli - Everett Collection

Valerie Bertinelli made a blunt confession about working with One Day at a Time creator and producer Norman Lear.

In the September 7 episode of her Getting Naked: The Podcast, the actress and her One Day at a Time co-star, Mackenzie Phillips, recalled their time under Lear. (He died in 2023 at 101.)

“He was so loving,” Bertinelli, 66, pointed out. “Both of us are incredibly lucky to have such a mentor and someone who wasn’t what you think Hollywood is. Because young girls in Hollywood are eaten up and spit out, and we were not, under Norman’s tutelage.”

She continued, “I felt very, very protected, and I always was in awe of him and afraid of him a little bit, always afraid I was going to be reprimanded by Norman.”

“He was the one that took me aside when I had to cry in the finale of the first season, and I couldn’t do it,” Bertinelli recalled. “I was too embarrassed. Because I wasn’t an actor. I was just learning how to do this. Now I can. But I also have 50 years experience behind me.”

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Meanwhile, Phillips, also 66, shared, “I had a wonderful relationship with Norman. I don’t think this is a word, but I pedestalized him. I always adored Norman, and whenever we would get a script, you remember the script, it would get that up in the right-hand corner, it said ‘Lear Polish.’”

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One Day at a Time aired for nine seasons from 1975 to 1984. In addition to Bertinelli as the younger sister, Barbara Cooper, and Phillips as the older sister, Julie Phillips, the show starred Bonnie Franklin as their mother, Ann Romano. One Day at a Time also featured Pat Harrington Jr., Glenn Scarpelli, Michael Lembeck, Boyd Gaines, Nanette Fabray, and Shelley Fabares, among others.

In 2017, a reimagined reboot starring an entirely different cast premiered. Also created by Lear, the series aired for four seasons and ended in 2020.

One Day at a Time (original), streaming on Tubi

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”