Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 23, 1992 TAG: 9202210351
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
`CHILD OF TV' CONTINUES GOOD ROLES
Molly Kilcoin is a Harvard Law School graduate, the pride of her working-class family. With an offer from a prestigious New York law firm, she's on the track to respect, power, money.At last, thinks her father the cop.
But no. Molly turns down the offer to sign on as assistant prosecutor in the district attorney's office.
Her father is furious, and eventually a shocked Molly finds out why.
"What She Doesn't Know" (tonight at 9 on WSLS-Channel 10) stars Valerie Bertinelli, who adds this to a growing list of better-than-average television movies. George Dzundza plays her father.
Bertinelli is a child of television, having grown up on CBS's long-running "One Day at a Time" (December 1975 to September 1984). But while "One Day" was still in production, Bertinelli began to branch out to TV movies, some of which she produced.
"I think that helped a lot," she said. "People got to see me in different roles and didn't categorize me immediately."
Last November, in CBS's "In a Child's Name," she played a woman who tried to win custody of her late sister's son from his father, who murdered the boy's mother. "I was quite proud of that."
Bertinelli credits much of her success in finding good scripts to her manager of more than a decade, Jack Grossbart, who is also a producer.
"I think he knows good material when he sees it," she said, "and he sifts through it and he sends me only the good stuff. I get really, really good scripts. I have a good choice of what to choose from."
Not quite a year ago Bertinelli and rock guitarist Eddie Van Halen, married in April 1981, became the parents of Wolfgang.
"I'm really picky these days, especially now," she said. "It's got to be a really, really good project to get me away from my child for any length of time."