'One Day at a Time' star Valerie Bertinelli reflects on her time with Norman Lear

Valerie Bertinelli recently opened up about living under constant fear while she was working with Norman Lear on One Day at a Time.

For those unaware, the 66-year-old American actress played the role of Barbara Cooper in the famous American television sitcom that aired on CBS from December 16, 1975, to May 28, 1984, and was developed by Lear.

During her appearance, along with sitcom co-star Mackenzie Phillips, on Getting Naked: The Podcast on Monday, September 7, Bertinelli reminisced about her experience of working under the wings of the late American screenwriter and film producer.

Calling to mind her time with Lear, she stated, “He was so loving. 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.”

“I felt very, very protected and I always was in awe of him,” the Silent Witness star sang praises of him, adding that despite having a wonderful time working with him, she was also “afraid of him a little bit — a little bit always afraid I was going to be reprimanded by Norman.”

“He was the one that immediately took me aside when I had to cry in the finale of the first season and I couldn’t do it,” Valerie Bertinelli shared.

It is pertinent to mention that One Day at a Time, which ran for nine seasons, had an ensemble cast, including Bonnie Franklin, Mackenzie Phillips, Glenn Scarpelli, Pat Harrington Jr., Howard Hesseman, Shelley Fabares, and others.