Actress Karen Valentine

Celebrities, Celebrity Q&A, People
on August 29, 2004
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Sweetheart Becomes Mother of Three Brides

Karen Valentine, one of America’s favorite sweethearts of the 1970s, is now tackling the role of an overwhelmed mother in Wedding Daze, which airs Sept. 6 at 8 p.m. EST on the Hallmark Channel. “I’m mom and married to John Larroquette and we have three daughters,” she says. “John seems to be the nervous one and I sort of reel him in every so often.” Their characters are empty-nesters until, one by one, their daughters return home and become engaged. “It ends up in a triple wedding ceremony,” she says. Valentine, 57, grew up in Sebastopol, Calif. (pop. 7,774), and gained national fame in 1969 as Alice Johnson on the TV show Room 222. After winning an Emmy for Room 222, she starred in the TV series Karen and Our Time before venturing into work in films such as Hot Lead and Cold Feet and The North Avenue Irregulars. She and husband Gary Verna, a musician, recently moved to Los Angeles from Washington, Conn. (pop. 3,596), to be closer to her mother, who has health problems. “My life for the last 15 years has been on the road and away from home doing touring companies and regional theater,” she says. “Sticking close by Mom is what is important right now. This film was done locally, so I didn’t have to travel.”