Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Reports the Daily Mail...
It was a rant worthy of Basil Fawlty at his most furious. During a talk which was supposed to focus on raising money for conservation work, John Cleese launched a tirade against his estranged third wife, American psychotherapist Alyce Faye Eichelberger...Cleese studied law at Cambridge. After that and two prior failed marriages you'd think he'd have known the word "prenup"."'Guess how much I'm paying her at the moment? I'm paying her £900,000 a year. And we had no children. It really is astonishing ... When I told my friends, they just put their head in their hands."
His mother Muriel, who died in 2002, also came under fire during the extraordinary outburst.
"I did have a dreadful mother ... And she lived to 101. I thought I'd never get rid of her."
The former Monty Python star -- who split from Miss Eichelberger after 16 years of marriage in January -- also spoke openly about his new relationship with 34-year-old marketing executive Veronica Smiley.
"The tabloid newspapers go on about her being half my age, but I'm not sure that matters. She's absolutely gorgeous, and incredibly intelligent. To be the brand manager for a company like Nice 'n' Easy haircare at the age of 33 is quite something."
[Cleese's friend] Michael Winner said of Miss Eichelberger "Her voice alone could tear the testicles off a rabbit"...
