Rhea Perlman

Rhea Perlman
Photo of Rhea Perlman at the 1988 Emmy Awards
Born	March 31, 1948 (1948-03-31) (age 61) Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actress/Writer
Years active	1972–present
Spouse(s)	Danny DeVito (1982–present) 3 children

Rhea Perlman (born March 31, 1948) is an American actress, best known for her role as Carla Tortelli on the sitcom Cheers.

Biography

Personal life

Perlman was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Philip and Adele Perlman. Her father was an actor and a doll and toy part salesman.^[1] She is the sister of Heide Perlman, who was a writer, story editor and producer on the television show Cheers. Perlman attended Hunter College in New York and is an active Democrat.^[2] She married the actor Danny DeVito, who played her husband in the film Matilda. They have three children: Lucy Chet DeVito (born March 1983), Grace Fan DeVito (born March 1985) and Jacob Daniel DeVito (born October 1987). She and her husband are members of the steering committee of the Friends of the Apollo, along with filmmaker Jonathan Demme.^[3]

Career

Perlman received ten Emmy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (Cheers ran 11 seasons, from 1982–1993; the only year in which Perlman wasn't nominated was 1992). She won the Emmy four times, in 1984, 1985, 1986 and 1989. She later starred in the 1996 sitcom Pearl as the title character and was featured on the 2001 TV drama Kate Brasher. She also appeared in a 2000 television film How to Marry a Billionaire: A Christmas Tale, in which she played Jacqueline Kennedy.

Perlman had a recurring role on the television show Taxi as Zena, Louis DePalma's (Danny DeVito) girlfriend. Perlman also played the role of Honey in the film Canadian Bacon and she appeared in the movie Matilda opposite her husband Danny DeVito, Pam Ferris and Mara Wilson. She also played the grumpy shopkeeper in "Packin It In".

Perlman also played the part of a therapist called Dr. Parella in the 2000 film "Painful secrets" a.k.a secret cutting, which follows the story of a young girl named Dawn who self injures.

She appeared briefly, with her husband, in the 2006 movie "10 Items or Less".

Perlman is the author of the successful illustrated children's book series Otto Undercover, with six books which are Born to Drive, Canyon Catastrophe, Water Balloon Doom, Toxic Taffy Takeover, Brink of the Ex-stink-tion, and Brain Freeze.

In 2007, Perlman appeared as 'Bertha' in the West End of London in the comedy Boeing Boeing.

In 2008, she starred in the Hallmark Channel original movie, "The Christmas Choir."

in 2009 she appeared as Tanya's mother on the HBO series Hung.

References

External links

• Rhea Perlman at the Internet Movie Database
• Otto Undercover