Danny DeVito Shares Secret to Unconventional Marriage With Rhea Perlman
Celebrities in unconventional marriages have become increasingly open about their personal arrangements in recent years, perhaps most notably with Jada Pinkett Smith's reveal that she and Will Smith have been separated for several years despite remaining legally married. This practice of living separate lives while simultaneously avoiding divorce is something iconic actors Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman know quite well.
DeVito and Perlman got married in 1982 and have three children together as well as one grandchild, who just turned one. They were in wedded bliss for four decades before announcing their separation in 2012. Still, they've never gone through divorce proceedings and don't see the point in doing so. In fact, living apart in their current setup has been working pretty well for them.
DeVito spoke about their relationship in a new interview with Fox News.
"We're doing great," the Poolman star said. "We're sharing our granddaughter, our new granddaughter, and we see each other all the time."
"We were together for [our granddaughter's] birthday party, and we had a family party," DeVito continued. "We're a tight family."
DeVito went on to explain just how and why his relationship with Perlman works so well having undergone several transformations over the years.
"Rhea and I met in, well, 1970," he said. "We've been together for that long, and you grow together. It's like you really know how each other's feeling all the time."
In this kind of scenario, communication is key, DeVito said.
"We participate in conversation daily. Lots and lots of talking and [we've] done a lot of things together," he noted. "We have three beautiful children, and now we have a granddaughter who is a year old, and we have one on the way. So the family's growing."
There's no bad blood between DeVito and Perlman, especially seeing as they have a family together. In fact, he admitted that they'd recently all been on a weeklong vacation together.
"The whole family was together. I think that's part of it," he explained. "If you can do that, you know, no matter what your situation is, we don't live together anymore, but we are together in a lot of ways."
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Perlman, for her part, also sees no issue in their situation. In a 2020 appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, she revealed that they're much better off now as friends and stated plainly she wasn't getting divorced, simply asking "What for?"
Their unique family dynamic would certainly make for an interesting movie, perhaps with DeVito and Perlman themselves playing the lead characters.