Val Toriello

Infobox character | name = "Valerie Toriello"


first = "Pilot"
last = "The Finalé"
cause =
alias =
age = 36 (Series Finale) [Val is the same age as Fran Fine, and according to the Wikipedia page, Fran was 36 by the time the series ended: Fran Fine]
occupation = Waitress
Shop assistant
family = Mr. Toriello
Mrs. Toriello
Giggy Toriello (cousin)
spouse =
children = Mai Ling (adopted)
portrayer = Rachel Chagall
creator = Fran Drescher

Valerie "Val" Toriello was a fictional character in the television situation comedy, "The Nanny". She was played by actress Rachel Chagall.

Fran’s best friend

Val has been the best friend of Fran Fine ever since high school, in Flushing, Queens, New York. When the show began, Val had been working at the same bridal shop as Fran; she was present when Fran was fired from her job and dumped by her ex-boyfriend, Danny Imperiali, in favor of Fran’s arch-rival, Heather Biblow.

Sometimes Val comes across as not very bright, some would say outright dimwitted, and it annoys and worries Fran. However, Fran once says jokingly that she became best friends with Val because the latter would make her look smarter. When she and Val disagree, Fran many times uses Val's intelligence as an insult.

Like Fran, Val initially has an unsuccessful love life, dating men occasionally but never settling down. At one point in time, she, Fran and Fran's sometime nemesis, C. C. Babcock bonded and swore off men for a while. At the end of the series, Val begins dating a pharmacist named Fred. At some point during the series Val loses her job at the bridal shop and in season five Maggie's Wedding she states that she is now working at a donut shop.

Val was the bridesmaid at Fran's wedding.

In season one it is mentioned that Val's father is a plumber and Fran states that Val is actually very mechanical.

Chagall's character was named after Fran Drescher's biological cousin named Erica Toriello. [The Nanny: Season One Commentary]

References