They were known as the Hollywood couple who stuck together through thick and thin. Unfortunately, after knowing each other for forty years, a famous Hollywood couple is calling it quits. Danny DeVito, 67, and Rhea Perlman, 64, have decided to go their separate ways after thirty years of marriage.
The two met at an off-Broadway play, “The Shrinking Bride”, in 1970. Rhea attended the play to see a friend perform, DeVito talked with her after the play was over, the two were smitten with each other, they moved in together two weeks later and the rest is history. The couple were married on January 28, 1982, and have three children: Lucy Chet, Grace Fan, and Jacob Daniel.
Throughout their relationship, DeVito and Perlman worked along side each other many times. They were both in the popular TV show “Taxi” and the feature film “Matilda”. The couple also have a successful production company, Jersey Films, which produced several popular movies, including “Pulp Fiction,” “Garden State,” and “Erin Brockovich.”
DeVito’s film career began in 1975 when he played Martini in the 1975 film “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” which reprised his role from the 1971 off-Broadway play of the same name. His fame came when he played Louie De Palma, the domineering dispatcher for the fictional Sunshine Cab Company on the hit TV show “Taxi.” When “Taxi” ended, DeVito’s successful movie career took off, with roles in such movies as “Ruthless People”, “Romancing the Stone,” “Twins,” “Batman Returns,” and many, many more.
Perlman began acting in the 1970’s, with her first notable role as Zena, Louie’s girlfriend on “Taxi.” In 1982, she landed the role as Carla Tortelli on the sitcom “Cheers.” In that role, she won the Emmy four times, and was also nominated for a Golden Globe six times. Perlman is an author as well, penning the successful illustrated children’s book series “Otto Undercover.”
Although no official reason has been given for the separation, sources close to DeVito and Perlman say the couple has been unhappy for “over ten years” and that Perlman is divorcing DeVito because of “his wandering eye.” Whether this is true or not, it is unfortunate that a couple who has spent forty years together is calling it quits.