Outside the Beltway

Valerie Bertinelli and Eddie Van Halen Divorcing

James Joyner · Wednesday, December 7, 2005 · 3 comments

Valerie Bertinelli and Eddie Van Halen are divorcing after 24 years of marriage.

Bertinelli Divorcing Rocker Eddie Van Halen (AP)

Valerie Bertinelli and her rock star husband, Eddie Van Halen, are divorcing after 24 years of marriage, Bertinelli’s publicist confirmed Tuesday. “Yes, that’s true. They have been separated for four years and it’s amicable,” Bertinelli spokeswoman Heidi Schaeffer told The Associated Press. She said the actress would have no further comment. A divorce petition that Bertinelli, 45, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court Tuesday cited irreconcilable differences.

The couple wed on April 11, 1981, and have one son, 14-year-old Wolfgang Van Halen. According to the petition, they separated on Oct. 15, 2001.

Bertinelli shot to fame as the sexy 15-year-old daughter of Bonnie Franklin on the hit television show “One Day at a Time,” which aired from 1975 to 1984. She rejoined Franklin and Mackenzie Phillips, who played her sister, for a reunion show earlier this year. She was also a regular on television’s “Touched by an Angel” from 2001 to 2003.

Van Halen, 50, is one of the most celebrated lead guitarists in rock music. He rose to fame in the late 1970s, along with his brother, drummer Alex Van Halen, vocalist David Lee Roth and bassist Michael Anthony as members of Van Halen.

While it has been years since I gave much thought to Bertinelli or Van Halen, this is still somewhat surprising. I watched Bertinelli literally grow up on television and Van Halen was quite probably the premier guitarist of his generation. I had more or less lost track of both, as I was not a fan of “Touched by an Angel” or “Van Hagar.”