Danny DeVito Says He Maintains ‘a Good Relationship’ with Rhea Perlman, 9 Years After They Separated

Tommy McArdleWed, July 29, 2026 at 12:00 PM UTC

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Danny DeVito on the cover of AARP The MagazineCredit: AARP -

Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman have been separated since 2017, but they remain married and maintain a close friendship

The former couple share three adult children — Lucy, 43, Grace, 41, and Jacob, 38 — and spend time seeing their grandchildren together

DeVito next appears on the big screen in Jumanji: Open World, in theaters Dec. 25

Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman may be separated, but the former couple and parents of three remain close.

DeVito, 81, is AARP The Magazine‘s cover star for its August-September edition, published on Wednesday, July 29. In the story, DeVito reflected on the beginning of their relationship in the early 1970s. Perlman, 78, is an Emmy Award-winning actress known best for portraying Carla in Cheers.

She and DeVito first met when she saw an off-Broadway show that DeVito appeared in and went out with a mutual friend afterward.

“We hit it off. We liked off-Broadway stuff,” DeVito recalled of their relationship’s early days. “We went to movies all the time. We made little movies together — short films. We had a lot in common, and we fell in love. A nice Jewish girl from Brooklyn and an Italian from New Jersey: I cooked and she ate.”

Perlman and DeVito married in 1982 and share three adult children: Lucy, 43, Grace, 41, and Jacob, 38. Though the couple separated in 2017, they remain legally married.

DeVito said they plan to remain married moving forward and still spend time together on a daily basis. “We’re always over at her house. We see the grandchildren together, that kind of stuff,” he told the outlet. “So that’s a good relationship.”

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Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman on April 30, 2025Credit: Paul Archuleta/Getty

DeVito and Perlman initially separated in 2012, but they reconciled and resumed a romantic relationship the following year. They separated again in 2017.

In 2023, Perlman said during an appearance on Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Wiser Than Me podcast that she and DeVito remained “very good friends” even after that second separation, adding that “it took time for us to come to this somehow pretty decent understanding and relationship with each other.”

DeVito appeared on AARP The Magazine‘s cover as his long-running sitcom It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia prepares to release its 18th season. In December, he will appear in Jumanji: Open World, reprising his role from 2019’s Jumanji: Next Level.

While speaking with the magazine, DeVito credited his longtime success in Hollywood to the support from his family and friends. “Because of them, I always had a feeling that no matter what I was doing, I could do it, no holds barred,” he said.

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Jumanji: Open World is in theaters Dec. 25. Perlman, meanwhile, most recently appeared in multiple television series in 2025, including The Studio, Too Much and Poker Face.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”