Despite her small physical stature, curly-mopped Rhea Perlman cut a formidable onscreen presence in memorable, strong-willed characters throughout her TV career. But it was her most acidic role which brought her the greatest acclaim – that of unflinchingly curt cocktail waitress Carla Tortelli on NBC’s “Cheers” (1982-1993) – a role she made her own for 11 seasons and one that assured her place as one of television’s great masters of the putdown.
Perlman was born in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn, NY on March 31, 1948. The eldest of two children, Perlman was raised in Bensonhurst with her sister Heide and, inspired by musicals such as “Peter Pan,” dreamed of being an actress on Broadway. A student at Lafayette High School, Perlman went on to study drama at Manhattan’s Hunter College and hit the audition circuit full-time after graduating in 1968, taking various jobs including one as a waitress at New York’s legendary Rainbow Room. Though she would act in several off-Broadway plays, it was her role as an audience member that had the biggest impact on her personal life. In 1970, after watching a friend’s performance in the off-Broadway play “The Shrinking Bride,” she met the play’s diminutive co-star Danny DeVito, with whom, a mere two weeks later, she would move into an apartment with that he had sublet from actor Michael Douglas.
Perlman got her film acting start in Martin Brest’s “Hot Dogs for Gauguin” (1972), the first of many collaborations she would have with DeVito during their careers. The couple eventually made the leap from New York to Los Angeles in 1976, and Perlman quickly landed parts in several telefilms, such as NBC’s “Stalk the Wild Child” and CBS’ “I Want to Keep My Baby” (1976). As the work picked up, an even greater succession of made-for-television films followed in the next year, notably “Having Babies II,” (ABC, 1977), “Mary Jane Harper Cried Last Night” (CBS, 1977) and “Intimate Strangers” (ABC, 1977).
In 1978, DeVito landed a star-making regular role on ABC’s hit comedy, “Taxi” (1978). A year later, Perlman made her debut as DeVito’s onscreen girlfriend, Zena Sherman. Zena’s first appearance on the series was one of several that would occur during its run. Perlman also appeared in the ABC made-for-television movie “Like Normal People” (1979) and again alongside DeVito in the feature film, “Swap Meet” (1979). On Jan. 28, 1982, Perlman and longtime love DeVito finally tied the knot, but it did not prevent her from continuing to shuffle between feature films and television, mixing things up with the films “National Lampoon’s Movie Madness” and “Love Child” (1982), as well as the CBS telefilm, “Drop-Out Father” (1982).
That September, Perlman took to playing her most famous character, that of the oft-pregnant, sharp-tongued Carl Tortelli on NBC’s “Cheers.” Fresh off of the cancellation of “Taxi” – then wrapping its last year on NBC – producer James Burrows specifically earmarked her for the role in his burgeoning Boston bar sitcom. Among its eventual successes, “Cheers” also become something of a family affair, with Perlman’s sister Heide serving as a series producer and her father sometimes appearing as bar patron Phil. Perlman also appeared as DeVito’s love interest in his directed vignette, “The Selling of Vince D’Angelo” (1983) – part of Cinemax’s series “Likely Stories” – and based on DeVito’s 1976 previous made-for-television directorial debut. One year after her start on “Cheers,” she and DeVito would also co-host NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” together in September. It was also in 1983 that Perlman and DeVito saw the birth of their first child, Gracie. In 1984, she received one of the first of three consecutive Emmy awards for her “Cheers” role – receiving four total – and gave birth to Lucy, her second child with DeVito. She capped off the year by appearing with her husband in his Showtime original, “The Ratings Game” (1984) in December. As “Cheers’ began to hit its stride, the cast even showed up on a 1985 episode of NBC’s medical drama “St. Elsewhere” (1982-88), aptly entitled “Cheers.”
By 1986, the challenge of animated fare had beckoned the two-time mother, and Perlman found her introduction to the world of voice over work with a duo of animated projects – Bill Melendez’s PBS TV special, “Happily Ever After” (1986) and the feature film “My Little Pony” (1986). That same year, DeVito would direct his wife in “The Wedding Ring” segment of Steven Spielberg’s NBC anthology series, “Amazing Stories” (1985-87). In January of 1987, Perlman taped a spin-off series for NBC based on her “Cheers” character, “The Tortellis” (1987), but the series ended abruptly after the airing of the pilot. She would rebound with another television movie, “Stamp of a Killer” (1987), and ended the year as the mother of newborn Jake. She then returned to the made-for-television world with “A Family Again” (ABC, 1988). In 1989, Perlman won the last of her four Emmys for “Cheers,” and the ever-busy actress took parts in two back-to-back features, “Enid is Sleeping” (1990), and the Bud Cort-directed “Ted and Venus” (1991).
At the start of the 1990s, Perlman, now a parent of three, found herself gravitating towards more family-friendly projects. During her “Cheers”’ run, Perlman had continued to act in a diverse collection of film and television projects, specifically choosing ones with positive messages and often overlooked themes. Over the years, many of those roles would reflect a dedicated interest in the welfare of children, for whom she would advocate greatly in her free time. Along with guest stints on adult-oriented sitcom fare such as NBC’s “Blossom” (1991-95) in 1991 and a year later on Fox’s “Roc” (1991-94), she appeared in “The Last Halloween” (CBS, 1991), “Shelley Duvall’s Bedtime Stories” (Showtime, 1992) and provided the voice of 9-Eye for EuroDisney’s short film attraction, “From Time to Time.” (1992). She then eased back into features with the Kid n’ Play vehicle “Class Act” (1992) and “There Goes the Neighborhood” (1992), followed by the TV movies “To Grandmother’s House We Go” (ABC, 1992) and “A Place to Be Loved” (CBS, 1993).
After 11 years on the air, 1993 would see the much-publicized end of “Cheers,” – a series in which Perlman had appeared in every episode (only co-star George “Norm” Wendt could claim the same) and earned six additional Emmy award nominations to go with her four wins. After tackling the ABC TV movie “Spoils of War” (1994), she provided guest voices for the Fox animated series “The Simpsons” (1989- ) in 1994 and “The Critic” (1994-95) in 1995, before concentrating again on features. She starred in Michael Moore’s political satire “Canadian Bacon,” (1995) and a year later, starred in “Sunset Park,” “Carpool,” and co-starred with DeVito in his directed adaptation of the Roald Dahl classic, “Matilda.” She decided to return to the small screen with the ill-suited CBS sitcom, “Pearl” (1996) – her first since “Cheers” – playing the titular character who decides to go back to college well into adulthood, but the series lasted for only one season.
Despite no longer having a weekly on-air presence, Perlman continued to stay active with guest spots on such TV fare as the NBC series “Union Square” (1997-98) in 1997 and “Mad About You” (1992-99) in 1999, meaty parts in telefilms such as “In the Doghouse” (Showtime, 1998) and “Houdini” (TNT, 1998) and a role as the devil’s wife in ABC’s “H-E Double Hockey Sticks” (1999). She starred alongside her former “Taxi” co-star Marilu Henner in ABC’s “A Tale of Two Bunnies” (2000) and took on USA’s “Secret Cutting” (2000) before playing the role of former first lady Jackie Kennedy in Fox’s “How to Marry a Billionaire: A Christmas Tale” (2000).
True to her interest in social causes, Perlman tried another series pass CBS, this time co-starring in the drama “Kate Brasher” (2001) as the savvy attorney Abbie Schaeffer who works to facilitate the efforts of a social worker played by Mary Stuart Masterson. The show would be short-lived, but she soon reunited with her old “Cheers” buddies Ted Danson and Kelsey Grammer for guest spots on CBS’s “Becker” (1998-2004) in 2001 and NBC’s “Frasier” (1993-2004) in 2002. In May of that same year, Perlman headed east again to the New York stage, replacing Valerie Harper in “The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife,” performing once more alongside old friend Marilu Henner.
Into the new millennium, Perlman has continued to work sporadically on various projects, with guest appearances on “Karen Sisco” (ABC, 2003-04) in 2003 and “Kevin Hill” (UPN, 2004-05) in 2004. She also shot a pilot for CBS’ “Stroller Wars” (2006) before executive producing the independent film “Bye Bye Benjamin” (2006). She also continued her devotion to children by penning the first four installments of her own children’s book series, Otto Undercover, which began its publication run in January, 2006.