Danny DeVito addresses why he has not divorced wife despite being separated for nine years
You’ll do well to find a happier separated couple than Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman.
Despite the decision to permanently separate in 2017, the pair remain remarkably close and still see each on a regular basis.
“We’re always over at her house,” the 81-year-old tells AARP. “We see the grandchildren together, that kind of stuff. So that’s a good relationship.
“No matter what happens in your life, the most important thing is having family and friends, reliable people in our lives who we can talk to, who we can open up to, who we can rely on to be there. I’m very fortunate.”
Advert
The couple most notably worked together in the 1996 classic Matilda as the neglectful Mr and Mrs Wormwood, as well as in the sitcom Taxi.
After a decade of dating, the Batman Returns actor officially tied the knot with Perlman, a four-time Emmy winner, in January 1982. They went on to have three children together; Lucy, Grace and Jacob.
In October 2012, they separated and got back together the following year. In March 2017, however, they called it quits.
“Danny and I have always loved each other and we have three amazing children together and we really agree on almost everything important and so, you know, we were together for 40 years,” Perlman, 78, previously said on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.
“Forty years is a long time!” she added. “You might have to do something else! It’s OK!”
The actor, best known for her role as head waitress Carla Tortelli on the television sitcom Cheers, said that their relationship is ‘much better [now] because all the tense stuff is gone’.
“It’s not in your face. I’m not in his face. He’s not in mine … there was a hard transition through the kids and everything, but everybody’s got a good relationship with Danny and with me and with each other, and that’s all we care about.”
Shutting down the idea of a divorce, Perlman said: “That’s not in the picture… what for? We do live separately. We see each other a lot, too.”
DeVito is set to return to the screen to reprise his role as Grandpa Eddie in Jumanji: Open World, out on Christmas.
“The older I get, the better I get for that part, so just bring it on,” DeVito added to AARP. “Give me that cane.”
On his secret to looking so young, DeVito insists that it’s not just eating healthy that’s doing the trick.
“I love work! Yesterday I spent all day editing. Today I’ve got writer meetings.”
Topics: Celebrity
Anish Vij