The Secret Marriage in Valerie Bertinelli's Family History | Finding Your Roots | PBS

Official website: to.pbs.org/fyr10 | #FindingYourRoots
Historical records reveal that Valerie Bertinelli's grandfather left behind his pregnant wife in his home country of Italy, immigrating to the United States and meeting Valerie's actual grandmother.
Valerie Bertinelli’s long and celebrated career has expanded to include being an equally beloved spokesperson, Emmy Award-winning host, business entrepreneur and New York Times best-selling author. Valerie stars in her own show on Food Network entitled “Valerie’s Home Cooking,” where she shares her passion for preparing delicious meals for her friends and family. In August 2012, she received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
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#ValerieBertinelli #HenryLouisGates #PBS
About the series:
Renowned scholar Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. guides influential guests into their roots, uncovering deep secrets, hidden identities and lost ancestors. Using genealogical detective work and cutting-edge DNA analysis, Gates guides influential guests deep into the branches of their family trees, revealing surprising stories of forgotten ancestors that transcend borders, illuminating an American root system fortified by its diversity.

[@dianaknapp1015]

Is it just me, or does everyone see what a sweet and intelligent person Valerie is?

[@sf9145]

Yes! I am not into Hollywood and all of that, but she is a true star, absolutely beautiful!

[@joannmetz4413]

I’ve always said she is a sweet lady

[@af4od02]

I agree. Valerie is the best.

[@Cabledeluz1977]

It’s just you

[@napoleoninrags1346]

No. Not just you, I promise. You are not crazy. Promise

[@veronicaferguson8548]

My biological father walked away from me .Only recently I've been able to reconcile the pain of it. Its ok.Because my Mom married a man who accepted me as his own and loved me all his life. So now i thank the man who walked away,because walking away was the greatest gift he could have given me besides my life that is. But not everyone can be as blessed. Poor Ernesto.😢

[@twystedhumour]

Not poor. Nonno was still there. I was abandoned by my bio mother, but others in my family stepped in to take her place. My Auntie is my Mother now.

[@deboraarena5668]

The same thing happened in my family. My great grandfather left his wife and children in Italy and went to the US. We found out he married someone in Philadelphia.

[@LittleBlueOwl318]

Val is one of my favorite people in the world.

[@joycestepancevich6591]

Love Valerie's closing remarks. At the end of the day we can't judge.

[@stewartcameron1516]

No , it's not for us to judge but by the law of the land he was a Bigamist and a liar when asked about a previous marriage he said no and coming from Italy the US immigration would take him at his word.

[@twystedhumour]

@@stewartcameron1516 Yep, same kind of perjury that my uncle committed during his emigration to the US.

[@stephensmith60]

Exactly! Everyone has a story! "We cannot judge".

[@cg8397]

​@@stephensmith60No, he was a deadbeat dad. He certainly didn't provide any kind of support to Ernesto.

[@lorrainedempsey3320]

Valerie Bertinelli, you are a treasure. 🤗

[@user-ff7wb4fm9k]

Val is so positive!

[@lauram.swanson6414]

Seems like every family has stories like this in their past. I am so grateful we now have the internet, social media and cellphones to connect us to our relatives overseas. ❤❤❤

[@Sad_bumper_sticker.]

It is unsettling to discover morally condemable acts done by your ancestors, after their death without the opportunity to confront or ask for their perspective.

[@stereomois]

My 2x great grand-father had at least two wives. On his death certificate there is a blank on the paragraph where his wife is mentioned it's like if they didn't know which one to write in.

[@pocho689]

Much better not knowing.

[@kevintorcolini2204]

Noted and agreed. But this is what this show is all about! Gates every show: "How does that make you feel, huh, huh, huh????"

[@hinthegroove9740]

I too always think of Eddie when I see her.

[@jimmd68]

I have at least one relative that just walked out of a former life and moved, too. Seems crazy now.

[@brunopadovani7347]

It was easier to do then. Now everything is interconnected and networked.

[@roberthudson1959]

Nazarino wasn't the only man to have multiple families at once. Between 1957 and 1967, Charles Lindbergh had seven children by three European women despite being married to Anne. Two of his mistresses were sisters.

[@conniekiers9554]

but having 2 mistresses is different than walking away from a pregnant wife and claiming to be single when emigrating and later when filing for a marriage license, saying he had never been married

[@roberthudson1959]

@@conniekiers9554Lindbergh seems to have had three mistresses and a wife at the same time, which is adultery on a grand scale. As for the marriage, Nazzarino may well have entered into the marriage to give the child a name, but considered it invalid because he had no intention of remaining in the relationship.

[@cg8397]

​@@roberthudson1959If he considered it invalid, then he could've got an annulment instead of committing fraud and bigamy.

[@roberthudson1959]

@@cg8397 First of all, many people of that era thought that an annulment rendered any children of the relationship illegitimate. Second, let me repeat my original point. This was not uncommon at that time, and is not unheard of even now.

[@rseward7183]

Did Ernesto have kids? If so, Velerie might want to try and connect with her cousins.

[@kevintorcolini2204]

According to the letters, Ernesto had two children (Valerie's half-second cousins) Paolo and Ivana. Ivana died when she was 49, but had already left three "beautiful children" (no names given).

[@amynunez4186]

She is so sweet 🥹

[@bonniepark6802]

My grandfather came from a town outside of Warsaw Poland in the late 1800s early 1900s and he stopped work in Pennsylvania as a coal miner

[@kevintorcolini2204]

The story fails to further mention that Nazzareno returned to Italy in 1929 to visit his father and mother. This is visible in immigration records for his return trip to the U.S. This fact was also seen in the letters from Ernesto to Valerie's father, Andrea, in which he states (starting on the bottom of the first page after his birth date), "This way, it would be very nice to see a brother who I have never seen[.] My wife [Maria as stated later in the letter] remembers when you and your friend came up to Pezza [the hillside neighborhood outside Scheggia where they lived] and there was grandfather Andrea (Nazzareno's father) and my wife who remembers you. Listen, Andrea, I am your brother and if you want to come to Italy, I will give you a big brotherly hug truly from the heart." Overall, I was disappointed that they did not bother translating the letters or at least pulling-out key facts.

[@sf9145]

My Italian grandfather in the same era tried to do this same thing to my grandmother. My grandmother followed him. My aunt, the baby was raised by my grandmother's parents. He tried to marry another woman and it was stopped. The divorced later after 13 kids but they lived next door to each other for life.

[@roxyj3182]

lol now this seems like an interesting story

[@skeezix8156]

That’s some perseverance on grandmas behalf. Must have been some epic holiday stories

[@dianarockwell6256]

I have another take, and it’s quite possible that she was pregnant and he married her to give her a name so the child would not be illegitimate and all the time intended on going to the US. The war was not long over and I actually had a similar situation in my family where my great grandmother was engaged and her fiancé died from the flu. Seems two months later his best friend Bill married my great grandmother. My grandfather does not look like any of the family he had very distinctive ears. They had Nelly a few years later and Nelly was the apple of their eye. They were farmers and they allowed my grandfather Paul to go to college until Nelly became old enough to go to college. And then he had to come home and work on the farm so Nelly could go to college so she could become a teacher. The letters that we read from Bill to my grandmother we’re all signed your friend bill. They were not love letters, granted it was the 1890s with my grandfather being born in 1899.

[@shulamiteKINGSbride]

I agree with you❤

[@cg8397]

Not likely. Italian guys in that era were too macho to take on another man's child.

[@kellydiver]

My grandfather did the same thing - left his first family and started a new life with my grandmother under an alias. I’m having a hard time with this discovery. My surname isn’t real, it’s my grandfather’s assumed name.

[@aprilrodriguez1280]

I think this was common practice , as my father did this to us and he was from Mexico remarried in the USA. And yes we new

[@shulamiteKINGSbride]

They got married, and a week later he left her. THEN seven months later Dominica gives birth to a child. Babies are born at 40 weeks, 9.5 months, not 7 months. Dominica was pregnant when they married. He likely was not the father, marring her to give her child a name. Just my thoughts.

[@bcent5758]

Id say he was the father and was forced into marriage.

[@annahutchinson]

Back in the day, shot gun weddings weren't uncommon.

[@jllucci]

Not surprising. Both my grandfathers catted around.

[@FreeSpirit47]

People get the impression that Valerie Bertinelli is a sweet person because her PR people are doing their job. When I see anything about her, I see the *playground bully* in elementary school & Junior High. Remembering how relieved other people she *bullied* were as well as myself, when the news got out that Valeries father was moving the family from Michigan to California. We were glad she left & all of us hoped she never came back. She left & stayed gone. Happy day!

[@Starfish2145]

Seriously?

[@FreeSpirit47]

@@Starfish2145 Yes. The pain I feel in my eye from one of her attacks reminds me of the mean bully that Valerie was. Not just to me, to the other students she also bullied.

[@marys-ks1pu]

My Grandfather lived in Scranton and worked in the coal mines for many years. He could have worked with Valerie’s Grandfather!! Wild!! 😳

[@kevintorcolini2204]

"Scranton" was just his jumping-off point because he had relatives there; or it could have been a collective term for all of NEPA. Census and marriage records show he was actually living in Carbondale as a boarder at the Fofi house on 172 Gordon Ave, just down the road and over a bit from my family's boarding house at 41 Upper Powderly street.

[@KathrynHimelreich-db8ht]

Valerie grew up in Wilmington, Delaware! Small Wonder state :)

[@amygromel2297]

It is nuts to hear that Valerie's family came to Scranton, PA. I live a 1/2 hour from there. Grew up in West Wyoming, PA. The Wyoming Valley. Nuts!

[@dariapoklemba2150]

My grandmother was born in Dupont pa 1 yr after my gg grandfather came to America with his wife. My mom (not my grandmother child) lived in yatesville. My grandmother was 1st of 18 kids. Some stayed in Scranton. I now 1994, i live in Scranton pa for past 30 yrs. Not a small world. Dupont is 10 mi from Scranton. Almost every male immigrant worked in the mines. My grandfather moved to NJ so hie kids wouldn't have to work like that.

[@kevintorcolini2204]

He didn't stay there long. By the 1930 census he was already living in Carbondale in a boarding house run by my aunt's husband's family (no longer there; must have burnt down) and just around the corner from my family's boarding house. You can see the address on Nazzareno's Lackawanna County marriage record shown in the clip.

[@cameroncook3863]

I think it tells a lot about your character when you abandon your child no matter what the situation is.

[@jefflewis4]

He left after a week of marriage. To me the suggests he may have been compelled to get married. Perhaps by his father, or her father, ie a shotgun wedding. He must have regretted it almost immediately and chose to flee instead of living up to his responsibilities.

[@lp8197]

I also wonder if he married her to give the child a name. Maybe it wasn't his but he provided her a respectable life. Just thoughts. Or the child was his but again, it was a marriage just to provide the child a name.

[@cg8397]

​@@lp8197Not likely, Italian guys in that era were too macho to do that.

[@seafull49]

He came in August too..

[@905Alive]

This is a great show, but the sound editing is off, the narration is much lower in volume than the actual interviews, surprised that PBS would make such an error.

[@mele9131]

Part 2please!

[@CrystalTwinStar]

😢💔

[@justayoutuber1906]

She reminds me of Sally Field

[@theninjacat7200]

@4:09 - letters were found after Valerie's father passed. I would like to think someone picked up the phone and talked.

[@kevintorcolini2204]

Obviously not.....

[@kevintorcolini2204]

The story fails to further mention that Nazzareno returned to Italy in 1929 to visit his father and mother. This is visible in immigration records for his return trip to the U.S. This fact was also seen in the letters from Ernesto to Valerie's father, Andrea, in which he states (starting on the bottom of the first page after his birthdate), "This way, it would be very nice to see a brother who I have never seen[.] My wife [Maria as stated later in the letter] remembers when you and your friend came up to Pezza [the hillside neighborhood outside Scheggia where they lived] and there was grandfather Andrea (Nazzareno's father) and my wife who remembers you. Listen, Andrea, I am your brother and if you want to come to Italy, I will give you a big brotherly hug truly from the heart." Overall, I was disappointed that they did not bother translating the letters or at least pulling-out key facts.

[@MeBeingAble]

But was the husband the father? Or did the husband just give the baby a name? In saying that, my ggrandad did this to his wife and about 20 generations ago i have a grandad that seems to have 2 families also

[@ReneeJoan]

If Nazareno left for America one week after marrying Domenica, and seven months later she has Ernesto, that means Domenica was already two months pregnant when they married. Very likely, the marriage was forced in order to cover up the out-of-wedlock conception and protect Dominica’s reputation. Chances are, it was not a union founded on love, but on coercion. What’s surprising is that Nazareno fled. I think few men would have been daring enough to flee like that. Most would have day-dreamed about it, but few would have actually followed through and done it. I’m not sure I find his actions admirable. But I do find them understandable.

[@kevintorcolini2204]

See my comment above for better cultural context of Scheggia in the early 1900s.

[@thorsonnanc]

Are you sure Dominica was not pregnant before the marriage? That would have made the baby legitimate in the eyes of the town, meaning the mother & child could hold their heads high. It may have been a marriage of convenience.

[@kevintorcolini2204]

See my comment above for better cultural context of Scheggia in the early 1900s.

[@jeanieschrag5378]

My grandmother left her husband and moved in with his brother ( my grandfather) but never divorced her husband nor married my grandfather. 😮

[@stephanieyee9784]

Wow.

[@jeanieschrag5378]

@@stephanieyee9784 I know, right!😯

[@jeanieschrag5378]

@stephanieyee9784 My grandfather was born in 1900, and we think it was in the late 20s or in the 30s. We were talking to our fathers older brother, and he said that our father and him were half brothers and cousins. We we were like wait... what? We looked in records, and there was a marriage certificate for Peter but none for Frank (our grandfather). The census shows Peter and Frank lived in the same household in 1910. Talk about a scandal 😂

[@cg8397]

That's nasty on your grandfather's part, taking up with the wife of his own brother.

[@aprilsmith6587]

I think he married Domenica because she was pregnant and had no one. He did it as a favor to her. He was not the father.

[@kevintorcolini2204]

I can't imagine why. They weren't even from the same town....

[@cg8397]

Not likely for an Italian man of that generation. Also, his parents wouldn't have helped his wife if that was the case.

[@teresalegler2777]

Wondering if Ernesto’s grandfather helped ease his grandson. So very sad.

[@stephanieyee9784]

That's very doubtful as he chose to pretend his wife in Italy, and their son, did not exist.

[@cyclemadness]

"Valerie Burt and Ernie" _Seth Macfarlene

[@ingridmcdonald7644]

Me thinks her grandfather fled after a shotgun wedding and wasn't ready for a family!

[@Joelswinger34]

Yeah, maybe should have thought of that before he got that poor girl pregnant

[@stephanieyee9784]

Then he should not have consummated the marriage. It was a cruel and heartless thing to walk away like that.

[@lillianbutz7136]

I agree, possibly a forced marriage. I noticed that the baby was born 7 months after marriage or after he arrived in the US. What if she was pregnant before the marriage by another man but claimed it was Bertinelli, that’s not unheard of either. This clip doesn’t connect the child by DNA so there is the question. You can write anything down in documents so as to secure a legal or socially acceptable outcome. I did notice that he remarried in the US and stayed married. In any event, it only proves that family history can be complicated and messy. As flawed people, we make decisions that isn’t always best and no one, not one is perfect!

[@cg8397]

​@@lillianbutz7136Not likely, his parents wouldn't have helped her in that case.

[@marksusskind1260]

Heavens to Betsy

[@kevintorcolini2204]

There are many comments herein suggesting that Nazzareno married his first already-pregnant wife to somehow give honor to the mother or to legitimize the child. I discovered researching my own ancestors in Scheggia around that time frame that it was quite common to have children out of wedlock (as indicated on birth records that the mother was not the the declarer's wife or did not want to be identified) and it was generally accepted then and even today. In one case, my GGF and GGM had seven of their eight children before finally getting married. I'm just adding this perspective and context to offer doubt that his actions may have been somewhat honorable or chivalrous.

[@cg8397]

Shotgun weddings happened in Italy if the people involved were both unmarried and from religious families. Your great grandparents' strange situation means an existing spouse had to die first for them to be free to marry, or at least one great grandparent was a communist.

[@Sirala6]

Domenica brought her grandfather "joy" at least once or she wouldn't have had a kid.

[@ginaskrobosinski49]

We found out my husband has a sister his mother must of given away after his six other brothers and one sister then there father died so she was not married and then meet my father in-law and they married and had him but she is on Facebook looks like his other sister but l don’t think she knows about the rest we don’t know what to do about it still thinking

[@carolynclark455]

I’m sorry but his character was shady and he knew it, that’s why he never responded to his son. He improved his life by devastating the life of a wife and son in Italy

[@paisley8519]

So many reasons Nazareno could have fled. Perhaps the child wasn’t even his, but his father’s, and he was forced to marry her. That would have made it easy to flee without looking back.

[@Joelswinger34]

Or maybe he got her pregnant and abandoned her

[@paisley8519]

@@Joelswinger34 Yes, of course that’s possible. I’m just saying that it’s not always what it looks like at first glance. My brother’s high school girlfriend turned up pregnant. The assumption was that he got her pregnant. But no, the child wasn’t his. It was her father’s. It’s not always fair to assume the worst of someone, that’s all.

[@sadjaxx]

This is what immediately came to my mind. It would explain why he never looked back AND why he was such a devoted father and husband later. He was not his father.

[@Dusk1962]

@@Joelswinger34highly unlikely

[@artvicstar]

The grandfather took care of the baby

[@ChristaFree]

I grew up in Italy, in the 80s, and in Southern Italy particularly there were still arranged marriages. I saw that happen. I'm sure he had to marry her in this case however, because he got her pregnant. That's was still an expectation when i was there andwhen i went back to visit many times through the 90s and beyond. Saw it with my own eyes with some of my Italian friends.

[@papasquat355]

She was married to Eddie. Grandpa having a secret bride back home is probably not the most shocking thing about her history.

[@kathleenherron594]

Times are so different now. We really can’t imagine what things were like. She might have lied about things and trapped him. He could have tried to take advantage of her and was forced to marry her. Who knows?

[@Dusk1962]

Highly unlikely more probable she was pregnant when they met and he married her to give her child a name.

[@cg8397]

​@@Dusk1962No, Italian guys in that era were too macho to take on another man's child. This looks like a shotgun wedding.

[@thegatesofdawn...1386]

No care for his wife or baby, sadly.

[@mosbysmen]

valeris grandfather at least gave the kid his name. if nothing else

[@beachrose88]

here is what went on..he RAN AWAY AND LIED

[@Dusk1962]

You cant say that as you don’t know.

[@cg8397]

​@@Dusk1962He lied about being single on official government documents. He committed bigamy.

[@stephensmith60]

I wonder if finding a hypnotherapist and going into the 'Akashic Records' would reveal the whole story. Maybe the marriage was "annulled" due to abandonment.

[@reedecker9416]

Is it possible he was forced to marry this woman due to an indiscretion on a married male family member's part?

[@cg8397]

No, in that case the baby would've been "put in the wheel". Italian guys in that era were too macho to marry a woman carrying another man's child.

[@jimbickel4001]

What do you when you are the last one? Mom,Dad, and Brother are deceased. I have zero biological children. I do have one 1st cousin and have no contact. I do have a former spouse and we have a decent relationship. But it's not her responsibility to eliminate my family's stuff. That's it. Do I just throw it away before I die and toss my family in the trash. It is a conundrum.

[@sandradavis4260]

Our Main city library has 2 basements, one wall.of which is available for people whom have nomlin.interested in their family history, in case, at a future time. some relative does emerge! In the meantime, oiribrary has intetesting info about the fabric of life inmpriod times! I took the Library tour. While listening, one of the group absent mindedly checked and was shocked! A relative was there! She had NO idea the library knew her clan existed ever! Great idea! The librarians joke that they have 1 wall whose veracity they have no idea of!

[@majoroldladyakamom6948]

Post and Re-Post were walking across a bridge. Post fell off. Who was left? Re-Post. Post and Re-Post...

[@Cyberlucy]

Lucky her getting to double dip between the two shows

[@JanetM05]

Boy words can cover up trauma can’t it? This man had to have kids and what happened to her? Did she have any others kids? Shady Shady Shady cause he did have the letters in his possession 😇

[@MeMeDaVinci]

DNA testing on Ernesto would be definitive. If he wasn't cremated, there's a chance to find out.

[@kevintorcolini2204]

According to the letters, Ernesto had two children (Valerie's half-second cousins) Paolo and Ivana. Ivana died when she was 49, but had already left three "beautiful children" (no names given). Ideally, they are somewhere in Italy and could be tested. But privacy laws are more strict in the EU. With over 100 second cousins in Italy, and I have had only one second cousin 1x removed get a DNA test and he now lives in Hamburg Germany.

[@jillgott6567]

Not his baby hmmm or his father forced him to marry Dominica to insure the legitimacy of the baby

[@Red-yx5yo]

So her grandfather was a dirt bag. His son wanted to connect with his father and was shunned. And yes it all can be bad.

[@kevintorcolini2204]

...wanted to connect with his half-brother, Andrea (Valerie's father).

[@wheelswingsfins438]

Maybe Dominica was pregnant out of wedlock and he married her so she wouldn't be ostracized in a prodomitly Catholic country.

[@bdarci]

It is possible that Nazareno didn't abandon his pregnant wife and prospective child. I see another take on this story. Domenica's family and the Bertinellis cooked up this plan. Domenica would get married to their son (who was not the father of the child). Nazareno would go to America as planned. Domenica wouldn't have an out-of-wedlock baby, and her husband would always be away for work. Looking at the story this way, Nazareno was chivalrous.

[@cg8397]

Not likely, Italian guys in that era were too macho and he'd have had the marriage annulled. More like a shotgun wedding he couldn't accept.

[@beachrose88]

no men run away and think its done .men justify it and turn their back .shameful l trait in men

[@Dusk1962]

You lie well

[@tarawhite8847]

Maybe her grandfather married the first wife because she was pregnant with another man's baby and the other man didn't want anything to do with her? Possibility?

[@cg8397]

No, Italian guys in that era were too macho to take on another man's child. Also, his parents wouldn't have helped her if that was the case.

[@yactabay]

Valerie seemed sweet to me until her comments against Eric Clapton just because he wasn’t falling for the pandemic garbage and other things. Just because she fell for all the lies doesn’t mean other people are jerks for not being sheep. I know all the guys that loved her due to how cute she has always been will attack me but too bad, so sad.