Divorce may cost Cleese £1.5m a year
Monty Python star John Cleese could lose half his fortune in a bitter divorce battle with his third wife, it emerged yesterday.
The comedian, star of the hit TV comedy Fawlty Towers, may also be forced to hand over two homes and £1million a year in maintenance.[>
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Cleese, who is said to be “taken aback” by his wife’s claim, may now take on extra film roles to fund the divorce, which he estimates could cost him £1.5million a year.[>
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He told a friend: “At the age of 68 I want to work less, not more. I can’t afford it.” [>
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Alyce Faye Eichelberger Cleese, the American-born psychotherapist who treats teenagers and adults at her private practice in London, announced earlier this year the couple were separating amicably after 15 years. [>
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But legal papers reveal that the pair are at loggerheads over his fortune. [>
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Cleese earned £3million last year. He is currently in Santa Barbara, California, where the couple own a 16-acre equestrian ranch. Purchased in 1999, it was put on the market last year for £16million and is not thought to be part of the divorce claim.[>
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His wife has asked to keep their £1.2million New York apartment and £2.5million mews house in London’s Holland Park. [>
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Lawyers are also demanding half the actor’s income going back to the year of their marriage in 1992 and annual maintenance of around £900,000. The couple both have children from previous marriages but none together.[>
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They allegedly split after Cleese, who has suffered bouts of depression, became “melancholic” following the deaths of several close friends. [>
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Mrs Eichelberger Cleese, who is staying at the £400-a-night Carlyle Hotel in New York, said of the divorce: “It is very amicable. John and I are fine about it.” [>
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Mr Cleese’s first wife was actress Connie Booth. They divorced after 10 years of marriage and Cleese married Barbara Trentham in 1981. They were divorced in 1990.[>