Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman have broken up and gotten back together so many times, it’s almost impossible to keep track of their love story.
The pair have been in each other’s lives for 40 years, but at this point their relationship is mostly based around friendship.
Since the Matilda co-stars tied the knot in January 1982, they have had an unconventional relationship, with Perlman revealing they’re still married a decade on from their split.
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DeVito even gave a shoutout to to his estranged wife during the Emmys on January 15, mentioning her success at the awards show in previous years.
Watch the video above.
“Even Rhea won four [Emmys] for Cheers,” he said while on stage with his It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia castmates as they lamented the fact the show has never been nominated despite its many years on screen.
The camera cut to Perlman, who looked delighted by the shoutout.
Lets take a closer look at DeVito and Perlman’s romance through the years.
Are Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman still married?
Shortly after celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary, the couple split in October 2012. However they got back together in 2013, only to break up for good in March 2017.
Despite the fragile nature of their relationship, they have never officially gotten a divorce and it appears they have no plans to do so.
“Danny and I, we are still married … and we are still very good friends and we see each other a lot,” Perlman said while featuring on a May 30, 2023 episode of the Wiser Than Me™ with Julia Louis-Dreyfus podcast.
But the on-and-off nature of their relationship doesn’t mean it was easy to navigate, especially when they first split in 2012.
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“I’m not gonna sugarcoat it, it was difficult, it was very difficult at first,” the Cheers actress shared. “There were a lot of reasons that we separated, which I’m not gonna go into.”
The 75-year-old actress emphasised, “Our family is still the most important thing to both of us.”
Perlman also shared that she and DeVito became grandparents for the first time just seven weeks ago via one of their daughters.
The Frasier actress said there’s a “certain love” she had only felt when her own children were born, which she now feels for her granddaughter, who was named Sinclair Lucille DeVito.
“It’s the kind of love I had never felt before for anything, and I had felt love, you know, for my husband, for other people in my family… but it was a profound kind of feeling, and there it is again,” she said.
“They can do no wrong, it’s like looking at a new human being, it’s so amazing that people create other people.”
The former couple and new grandparents remain steadfast in their decision to remain legally married.
Perlman told Andy Cohen in 2019, ”I’m not getting divorced. No, no, no. What for? We do live separately. We see each other a lot, too. We have three amazing children together. We really agree on almost everything important.”
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Perlman said they still talk all the time, and their relationship is in a healthier place. It’s “much better because all the tense stuff is gone,” she added.
Also in 2019, DeVito told People that he has remained “very close” with Perlman. “We’re friends,” he said. “We’re happy. Everybody’s happy.”
Why did Rhea Perlman and Danny DeVito split?
It was previously reported DeVito’s alleged “wandering eye” led Perlman to call time on their relationship. However, this has been denied by their friend and publicist, Stan Rosenfield.
“Whatever you may read is a fabrication. Nobody knows the real reason because they have not shared it with anyone,” Rosenfield told the Daily News on October 9, 2012. He also confirmed there was no third party involved in the split.
Why did Rhea and Danny get back together?
It was reported that the couple’s mutual friend, actor Michael Douglas, was involved in getting them back together.
“Michael loves Rhea and he told Danny he will never find another woman quite like her… He said he should do whatever it takes to win Rhea back and come to his senses fast before it is too late,” a source told Radar Online of their brief reconciliation in 2013.
“It’s because of Michael they are talking to each other.”
However, they separated for the final time in 2017.
Do Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman have children?
The couple share children Lucy, Grace, and Jacob.
Are Ron Perlman and Rhea Perlman related?
There is no family relation between Ron Perlman and Rhea Perlman.
What is Rhea Perlman net worth?
Perlman has a net worth of US$60 million (approx. $90.7 million) according to celebritynetworth.com.
Her latest project is Star Wars: The Bad Batch in 2023.
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What is Danny DeVito’s net worth?
DeVito has a net worth of US$80 million (approx. $97.9 million), according to celebritynetworth.com.
His latest project is a guest spot on Big City Greens in 2023.
How did Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman meet?
DeVito and Perlman met in 1971 after she saw him perform in a stage production of the Shrinking Bride.
During an appearance with Live with Regis and Kathie Lee in 1996, DeVito and Perlman recalled how they met.
“I was in a play off-Broadway, at the Mercury Theater, and I was playing this demented stable boy, I’m sitting on the edge of the stage, spitting into the orchestra pit,” he said.
“The young girl, who I was having my way with, the landowner’s daughter, comes out and she says, ‘Richie, what are you doing?’ I said, ‘I’m spittin’ on the swans.’ She was Rhea’s girlfriend, Rhea came to see the show, and Rhea saw me.”
DeVito revealed that after the show, they “hung out a little bit” and went to grab a bite to eat.
“I really dug her,” he told the hosts, referring to Perlman, who agreed the feeling was mutual. “We were instant,” she added.
What movies have Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman starred in together?
DeVito and Perlman first got together on the sitcom, Taxi, in which DeVito played abusive cab dispatcher Louie De Palma and Perlman starred as Louie’s love interest, Zena Sherman.
The two co-starred in Matilda, the children’s film based on the Roald Dahl book, as Matilda’s horrible parents, the Wormwoods.
