Danny Devito Confesses Details On His Love Life With Wife Rhea Pearlman

Jul 20, 2021 by apost team

Danny DeVito is an American actor, director, comedian, producer, and screenwriter. His first prominent role was playing taxi dispatcher Louie De Palma on the television series "Taxi." The show ran from 1978 to 1983 and won DeVito a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy Award for his performance. He currently plays Franks Reynolds on the FX and FXX comedy series "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia." 

Outside of television, DeVito is known for his many film appearances, including "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," "Terms of Endearment," "Batman Returns," and "Matilda." He is also an accomplished voice actor, with his voice being featured in such popular children's films as "Hercules," "The Lorax," and "Space Jam." 

DeVito is also a co-founder of the production company Jersey Films which is most well-known for the films "Pulp Fiction," "Garden State," and "Freedom Writers." The star was also a producer on the Academy Award-nominated film "Erin Brokovich." DeVito had his directorial debut in 1984 with "The Ratings Game." He then went on to direct and star in "Throw Momma from the Train," "The War of the Roses," and Roald Dahl's "Matilda," in which he starred alongside his wife, Rhea Perlman.

DeVito and Perlman met in 1971 at a performance of the play "The Shrinking Bride," which featured DeVito and a friend of Perlman's. The couple fell in love instantly and moved in together just two weeks later. They were married in 1982 and have three children together: Lucy, Grace, and Jacob. Unfortunately, the couple has had some ups and downs. They separated for the first time in 2012, then reunited in 2013, but decided to separate again in 2017. Read on to hear what the future may hold for this Hollywood couple. 

DeVito was born November 17, 1944, in Neptune Township, New Jersey. He is the son of a small business owner, Daniel DeVito Sr. and Julia Moccello. Devito once said of his parents in an interview with The Guardian, "They were older than most of my friends' parents, which could be funny sometimes. My mother would take me to school and my friends would say, 'Your grandmother's so nice!' I'd come home and I'd say, 'Ma, this is weird.' And she said 'Oh well, maybe I'd better dye my hair.' And she did – she dyed it. My sister was a hairdresser, so it was easy for her."

The star has two older sisters that were fundamental in helping him build self-esteem, according to The Guardian. One of his sisters owned a hair salon and would let DeVito help out there when he was growing up, and he gained a lot of confidence from the experience. 

DeVito grew up in Asbury, New Jersey, and has always held his hometown close to his heart. IMDB quotes as having said, "Jersey is always with me. I was one of the lucky ones. Asbury Park is just the greatest place in the world to spend your childhood."

When he was 14, DeVito asked his father to send him to a boarding school so he could stay out of trouble. The plan worked, and in 1962 DeVito graduated from Oratory Preparatory School in Summit, New Jersey. After high school, DeVito attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, which he heard about while working at his sister's beauty salon. He graduated in 1966. DeVito then went on to appear in many Off-Broadway stage productions.

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The breakthrough role for DeVito came in "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest," in which he reprised the character he initially played in the stage production of the same name. It was only a few years later that he began appearing on "Taxi," which is the role that made him a household name. IMDB quotes DeVito as saying, "I think 'Taxi' is one of the seminal, great shows that was ever made on television. I mean, the story and those characters, that's what makes a great show — it's the characters. And I always fell in love with the characters."

After "Taxi" ended, DeVito went on to star and be featured in a number of films throughout the 1980s and 1990s. The star has had a prolific career and is a credited actor in 139 projects, including a few that are unreleased. He has produced 43 projects and directed 23, according to IMDB. 

DeVito has become a well-respected actor, producer, and director by other giants in the industry. According to The Independent, Tim Burton said about DeVito, "Danny's just got a good Felliniesque spirit about him that makes you want to be around him."

Speaking with The Guardian about his career, Devito said, "Acting is like any other business, if you've got it in your heart that you want to write stories, or paint paintings, or build bridges, if you want to do anything. Once you've been bitten by that bug, it's your passion and you have to follow it. That's true whether you're tall, short, black, white, green, yellow."

The star has been involved in show business since 1969. With such a long and successful career, you might think DeVito would take it all for granted, but he doesn't. He added in the same interview: 

"You never know what's going to happen. You just throw the dice and you get lucky. And I surround myself with smart folks – usually young smart folks. It's good to be thought of in a good light, to have a little bit of clout, but you can't carry the ball all by yourself. You need a team. It's like what I'm doing here, it's with a team. I take my hat off to people such as Jackie Mason, who can face the West End in a one-man show. But all I'm thinking is, thank God for Richard Griffiths – I want my peeps around me!"

DeVito's personal mantra is to live in the moment. "The way I see it, what you've got to do is think of now, this moment. If you're analysing the past, or anticipating too far into the future, you don't really concentrate on what you're doing in this moment, and that's the most important thing. Right now! Right now is the most important moment in your entire life. It really is! And it's not because you're talking to me," said DeVito.

Rhea Perlman And How She Met Danny DeVito

Perlman is an American actress and was born March 31, 1948, in Brooklyn, New York. She is best known for her role as waitress Carla Tortelli on the hit television series "Cheers." The show was on the air from 1982 to 1993, and over the course of those 11 seasons, Perlman was nominated for 10 Emmy Awards for best-supporting actress. She won 4 times. She was also nominated for 7 Golden Globe Awards for the role, which is a record-breaking amount. 

When asked by the New York Post if she ever gets tired of being associated with Carla from "Cheers," Perlman said, "Why should I? Why would I want to shake that amazing lady I played for 11 years?" She added, "Carla was allowed to really, really hate people. I loved playing the bad guy!"

One of Perlman's first notable roles, before playing Carla, was a small recurring character named Zena, who was the girlfriend of DeVito's character on "Taxi." The couple would continue to work together, most famously in the film adaptation of "Matilda" in 1996. 

The couple first met in 1971 at a play that featured DeVito, as well as a friend of Perlman's who she was there to see. It sounds like Perlman was attracted to DeVito's incredible sense of humor. DeVito spoke about the meeting on "Live with Regis and Kathie Lee" in 1996:

"I was in a play off-Broadway, at the Mercury Theater, and I was playing this stable boy, I'm sitting on the edge of the stage, spitting into the orchestra pit. 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."

He continued, "I really dug her. We spent all night talking, and finally, I asked her for her phone number, and it was a Brooklyn number. So that cinched it, right there."

Perlman told the New York Post that she was smitten with DeVito as soon as she saw him onstage. She said, "I had to meet him immediately. I asked my friend if he had a girlfriend and she said no... I came on to him big time!"

In early 2012, just months before announcing their split, DeVito told The Guardian: "Yeah, Rhea and I have been together for like a hundred years! Seriously, it's been going on for 40 years now. We didn't get married right away, we lived together, and it was back and forth, in and out, on and off." The Guardian asked if they are soulmates: "Oh yeah, that kind of thing, good friends, best friends, we talk to each other every day, we Skype, all of it."

The couple were together romantically for 40 years and raised a family together during that time. In 2017, they separated for good and have been very happy since. 

It is clear that DeVito and Perlman have a very special relationship, and that has not changed even though they are now separated. In some ways, the couple has said, they are even stronger now that they live separately and are just friends. 

Perlman told People that they have better communication now than in the last five years of their marriage. DeVito added, "We're friends We're happy. Everybody's happy." Devito also had a chance to speak with the Independent in March 2019, and he said about his and Perlman's relationship, "I get to see everybody. I see Rhea. I see the kids. I just live apart."

Perlman went into detail about her and DeVito's relationship on an episode of Bravo's "Watch What Happens Live" with Andy Cohen. The actress said, "I don't know why it's difficult for other people, but Danny and I have always loved each other and we have three amazing children together. We really agree on almost everything important."

She added, "You know, we were together for 40 years. 40 years is a long time, you might have to do something else!" People magazine also mentioned that there might have been some fidelity issues on DeVito's part. Perlman explained that things are "much better because all the tense stuff is gone."

It seems that, while things were difficult initially, now the pair have settled into the separation and are doing much better. "It's not in his face or in mine. It was a hard transition… but everything smoothed out," Perlman explained to Cohen. "Everybody's got a good relationship with Danny, and with me and each other. That's all we care about."

There is one thing that Perlman is certain she and DeVito do not want, and that is a divorce. Perlman said in the interview, "But, I'm not getting divorced. No, no, no. What for? We do live separately. We see each other a lot too." She added that they are still very close and that divorce could spoil a good thing. 

Perlman told the New York Post that she spends most of her time with her dog, named Zorro, in Los Angeles and also has a place in New York City. She told the publication that she sees and speaks with DeVito frequently. "We've been together a very long time, so there's a lot of love and history," she said. "We agree on enough things, so why (ruin) that with the yucky things that come with a divorce?"

Both Perlman and DeVito still have successful careers, as they both have projects to be released in the next year or two, according to their IMDB accounts. Their personal relationship is not what most people expect from a separated couple, but it works for them, and that is what really matters. 

Are you a fan of DeVito or Perlman's work? Have you heard of another separated couple that remained good friends? Let us know what you think, and be sure to send this story on to your friends and family.