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New Idea (Australia) 31 July 1993 - The Homes That Cheers Built.
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They looked like a bunch of bar-room losers fritering away their lives serving behind the counter or swilling a never-ending supply of liquid amber in Cheers. But off the set, the cast lived the good life in palatial homes, thanks to their huge earnings from the hit comedy series. Ted Danson, 45, who starred as playboy pub owner, Sam Malone, became one of TV's highest paid actors during his 11-year stint on the Emmy award-winning show. Among his investments is a luxurious house at California's North Malibu beach, playground of Hollywood's super-rich celebrities. It was his personal hide-away when things got rough. After Ted walked out on his 55-year-old wife Casey and daughters Kate, 13, and Alexis, 8, last year to be with his new love Whoopi Goldberg, it was to this house that he fled. Friends say that Ted hoped to avoid divorcing his wife and splitting his massive fortune, estimated to be about $100 million. But then Casey found a box of steamy love letters from Whoopi among his belongings in their garage, and heart-broken, insisted their marriage was over. Ted rented a house a few blocks from Casey and the children, who live in the couple's five-bedroom home in Santa Monica, and 3km from Whoopi, his co-star in the romantic comedy Made In America. It remains to be seen who has the last laugh when the spoils of their marriage are divided. But even if Casey, Ted's wife of 16 years, gets both homes, plus a New York condo and cash, as she's expected to, Ted, who was a struggling actor when the comedy show first began, will still be a wealthy man. |
His Cheers co-star Kirstie Alley retreats to a ranch-style splendor in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley to get away from the pressure. When 38-year-old Kirstie, who played bar manager Rebecca Howe for six years, and her actor husband Parker Stevenson, the hunky former Hardy Boys star she married nine years ago, bought the 22-room home their careers were keeping them apart. Their palatial home, built in 1930 by singer Al Jolson, and just a few blocks from the valley's main street Ventura Boulevard, was to be a shared base. But it's occupants multiplied: the couple now have more than 40 animals and employ a full-time zoo keeper. And their antique-filled, environmentally friendly house is now seen as home to their 8-month-old adopted son William True. Kirstie, a strict vegetarian and Scientologist, had the air-conditioning removed because of its impact on the ozone layer and installed a solar-powered water supply. She also recycles aluminium, tin, paper and glass. At the on-set party after the last episode was screened in the U.S on May 20, cast and crew were invited to take home souvenirs from the set as a memento. Rhea Perlman, 45, Cheers' poisoned-tongued waitress Carla, took the bar's Wurlitzer jukebox home to the sumptuous Hollywood mansion she shares with her pint-sized husband, actor and director Danny DeVito, and their three children, Lucy, 10, Gracie, 8, and Jake, 5. Part of the Cheers bar went to Woody Harrelson's spectacular Beverly Hills home. Woody may have played a dozey barman in the series, but Woody was street-smart when it came to investing in real estate. His home borders Frank Sinatra's former mansion and has sweeping views of the Los Angeles Basin. |
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