After a decade apart, Rhea Perlman is content with her life after a public divorce from Danny DeVito.
The “Cheers” actress, 74, reflected on her illustrious Hollywood career and her previous marriage to the now 77-year-old actor. “It probably worked out for the best,” Perlman said in an interview.
“There are times when I wish we were still together because those were the glory days, but these are different kinds of glory days.”
Perlman married the “Terms of Endearment” star in 1982, and they had three children: Lucy Chet, 39, Grace Fan, 37, and Jake Daniel, 34. They divorced in 2012 but never formally divorced and have no intentions to do so.
“‘Cheers’ was everything at the start of my career, but family is everything — everything,” Perlman remarked. “I would be beside myself if my relationships with my children were strained.”
Despite living apart, the four-time Emmy winner and “Pearl” star treasures her new routine and friendship with her former real-life leading man.
“We’re still separated but see each other frequently and remain a family. We can do things jointly as well as separately. I’m so glad Danny and I were able to get through some difficult times so we could have this different kind of relationship,” she continued. “I believe it’s unusual, but we agree on many things that make sense.”
In 2018, the Coney Island native spoke about why she wouldn’t divorce DeVito anytime soon.
“We’ve been together for a very long time,” she explained, “so there’s a lot of love and history.” “We agree on many things, so why [destroy] that with the yucky things that come with divorce?”
From 1982 through 1993, Perlman dominated television with her humorous role of Carla Tortelli, a highly fertile but cynical server on NBC’s “Cheers.”
Ted Danson, Shelley Long, Nicholas Colasanto, Kirstie Alley, George Wendt, John Ratzenberger, Kelsey Grammer, and Woody Harrelson also appeared in the sitcom about a group of pals who spend all of their time in a pub in Boston.
According to Perlman, the program was “huge,” and she had “the best job in the world.”
“I remember everyone asking, ‘Should we do another year?’” “It’s been 11 years?” recalled the Emmy winner. “‘If someone gives you a present every year, are you going to take it the next year?” says George [Wendt]. ‘I mean, why not?’ So we accepted it for as long as they offered it.”
