Danny DeVito’s 3 Kids: All About Lucy, Gracie and Jake

Danny DeVito may be known for his gruff characters — and his equally gruff voice — but to his three kids, he’s really just a big softy.

The Emmy-winning actor welcomed his first child, Lucy, with Rhea Perlman in 1983, one year after their wedding. The couple, now separated, first met in 1971 and lived together for 11 years before tying the knot. They welcomed a second daughter, Grace, in 1985, followed by a son, Jake, in 1987.

“I have been very fortunate in my life,” he told The Guardian. “I have had a lot of happiness. I have a great family and I work a lot, and that’s what I like to do.”

Danny and Perlman first separated in 2012 after 30 years of marriage, before reconciling in March 2013. They separated again in 2017. Still, the two have never officially divorced and have no plans to do so.

“We’re still separated, but we see each other often, and we’re still a family,” Perlman told PEOPLE. “I’m really, really glad that Danny and I were able to navigate some rough days to be able to have this different kind of relationship. I think it’s pretty rare, but we agree on so many things that it makes sense.”

One thing they have always agreed on is family. “Danny and I have always loved each other and we have three amazing children,” she said during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen. Although their kids had a “hard transition” at first, everyone is happy and getting along now, she said, adding, “that’s all we care about.”

Danny echoed her sentiment in an interview with Uproxx. “I have three great kids and they were raised here in Hollywood. They went to school in the valley. They’re great, great kids.”

Continuing, he said, “Lucy was always the actress. I mean, even in kindergarten, grade school. And Jake did music, all kinds, was a movie buff, loved the movies. They all went to different colleges. Gracie, my middle daughter, is a painter. She’s an artist.”

Here’s everything to know about Danny DeVito’s three kids.

Lucy Chet DeVito, 41

Danny became a father for the first time on March 11, 1983, when he and Perlman welcomed daughter Lucy Chet DeVito.

The eldest DeVito is also the most like her famous father. Growing up in Los Angeles, Lucy developed an interest in acting from a young age. She went to Brown University in Rhode Island and graduated with a degree in theater before heading back to Hollywood.

Lucy started her career as an actress with small roles, including a cameo on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. And that’s not the only time she’s shared the screen with her dad. In 2022, the father-daughter duo teamed up for Little Demon, an adult cartoon that’s part comedy, part horror. 

The show — which sees Danny as Satan and Lucy as his daughter, the anti-Christ — ended up being a true family affair as both Lucy and her younger brother, Jake, acted as executive producers.

“Lucy called me and said her friends had this idea for a show, would I be interested in listening? And then she pitched the fact that I would play the devil. I immediately said, ‘Yes,’ ” he told Uproxx, adding, “I always want to work with Lucy.”

Speaking to Sioux City Journal, Lucy explained her vision for the project. “In my household growing up, there was a lot of love and fun. We based this on the positive relationship we have had and used that as a launching-off point for the kind of dark, twisted things you think about your parents or that your parents think about you growing up,” she said.

The two also costarred in the Broadway play I Need That. “It’s a very humanistic, character-driven, slice-of-life story,” Lucy told The New York Times. “The themes speak to loneliness and love, and the hardships you experience with your family while getting older.”

Lucy is currently expecting a child with her fiancé.

Grace Fan DeVito, 39

Danny and Perlman’s second daughter, Grace “Gracie” Fan DeVito, was born on March 25, 1985. Unlike her parents and older sister, Gracie likes to stay out of the spotlight, but she’s just as creative as the rest of her family.

She got her MFA from CalArts in 2012 and studied at The New York Studio School. She’s now living in L.A. and working as an artist, with performance art and paintings. In an interview with Cultured, Gracie spoke about growing up with such creative and accomplished parents, saying that they “were really great at including [my siblings and me] in their work.”

She went on to say that although they passed on their “philosophy” of intertwining art and everyday life, they were careful to let their kids find their own path. “There was no pressure whatsoever. It was more like they were super excited about whatever we were doing,” she said.

According to Danny, the excitement was genuine. “Gracie became our art teacher,” he said, adding that he and Perlman loved learning about their daughter’s passion for contemporary art.”

Explaining how they influenced her artwork, Gracie described her mom as “like this cartoon” while saying her dad was “more like this Zen storyteller monk who would make sure you were seeing things from every angle, and breathing in and out.”

As for her personal life, in 2019 Gracie married fellow-painter, Andy Giannakakis, but the two manage to keep a low profile.

Jacob Daniel DeVito, 37

Jacob “Jake” Daniel DeVito was born on Oct. 10, 1987.

Danny and Perlman’s youngest child is also in the entertainment industry, although he works behind the scenes as a producer and director.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Jake spoke about his childhood, calling it a “great growing up experience for us,” citing the excitement of being on set with his parents, traveling and getting to meet interesting people.

He went on to say that they were always protective when it came to the media. “They were really good about keeping our home really solid and safe.”

Jake has worked with his dad before, too, notably as an executive producer of Little Demons along with his older sister, Lucy and on the short film, Curmudgeons. “We’ve always stayed really close,” he told Sioux City Journal about working with his father. “We’ve had a very tight, warm relationship.”