Rhea Perlman was born on March 31, 1948 in Brooklyn, New York to parents Philip, a toy salesman, and mother Adele. She has a sister, Heide. As a child, Perlman often played at Coney Island. She didn’t learn how to swim until she was twelve. But, she loved to play Skee-Ball. She also loved the musical “Peter Pan.” Believe-it-or-not, Perlman was a shy child who grew up to be a rather quiet adult. Her nicknames are “Ritz Pritzle” and “Pee Rheman”. Read this interesting article and learn some little known facts about CHEERS actress Rhea Perlman you probably don’t know!
Early Years
During high school, Perlman tried her hand at acting. She enjoyed pretending to be someone she wasn’t. She especially liked portraying characters who weren’t shy and quiet like she was in real life.
After high school, the five-foot-four-inch Perlman studied Drama at Hunter College in New York, New York. She graduated in 1968. She went to audition after audition in hopes of making her dream to become an actress come true. She did win bit parts in many off-Broadway plays. To help support herself, Perlman worked at a textbook company, in an office, and, as a waitress. Perlman’s experience as a waitress would serve her well in her future career.
Her Career
Perlman went to see a friend perform in playwright Jonathon Levy’s “The Shrinking Bride” in 1971. She was attracted to one of the male performers. She and Danny DeVito moved in together two weeks later.
A little known fact about CHEERS actress Rhea Perlman is that she made her first movie, “Hot Dogs for Gauguin”, in 1972 along with DeVito.
Besides acting, Perlman and DeVito became writers as well. She and DeVito wrote and produced “The Sound Sleeper” in 1973. In 1975, the couple won a grant from the American Film Institute. They then wrote “Minestrone”.
Rhea Perlamn acted in television dramas like “Mary Jane Harper Cried Last Night” and “Intimate Strangers” in 1977. DeVito got the part of “Louie De Palma” on “Taxi” in 1978. She played the bit part of Louie’s girlfriend, “Zena”.
She has acted in several more movies and shows, but, her biggest part was playing the sharp-tongued waitress,”Carla Tortelli”, on “Cheers”. The Emmy-winning part lasted from 1982 to 1993. A little known fact about CHEERS actress Rhea Perlman is that she was just one of the actors who was there for all 269 episodes. Her father Philip even showed up from time to time as one of the patrons at CHEERS. And, her sister Heide Perlman even wrote some of the scripts.
Family Life
After living and working together for eleven years, vegetarians and Democrats Rhea Perlman and Danny DeVito finally tied the knot (several months before CHEERS premiered) on January 28, 1982. If you ever watched this hit comedy, you saw “Carla Tortelli” pregnant in several episodes. In real life, Perlman and DeVito have three children: Lucy Chet, born in 1983; Gracie Fan, born in 1985, and Jake Daniel, born in 1987.
Today, another little known fact about CHEERS actress Rhea Perlman is that she’s the author of Otto Undercover, a series of children’s books. Hero Otto is a race car driver, a secret agent and an inventor.
