Python Cleese Finally Settles Bill for Ex-Marriage
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After much wrangling, the comedian has made a multi-million dollar settlement with his former wife.
Former Python John Cleese has finally reached a financial settlement in the bitter divorce battle with his ex-wife Alyce Faye Eichelberger, NYDailyNews.com has reported. Papers to finalise the settlement were lodged in the Santa Barbara Superior Court in California last week, after an 18-month struggle.
Cleese has agreed to pay the psychotherapist an immediate settlement of $13 million in money and assets – such as a $3.3 million property in London’s Notting Hill, a luxury New York apartment in the Upper East Side and half the proceeds from the forthcoming sale of a beach house in Santa Barbara – alongside annual maintenance settlements of $987,000 for a seven-year period. The total value of the divorce deal weighs in at more than $19.7 million.
Cleese has complained bitterly about the terms of the divorce, insisting that he is going to end up with less money than his former wife. He recently said that he would now be working well into his 70s to “feed the beast” and was also quoted as saying: “I got off lightly. Think what I’d have had to pay Alyce if she had contributed anything to the relationship.”
The comedy legend is unlikely to have too much trouble paying the bills though.
Since the massive success of Monty Python and Fawlty Towers, Cleese has always had a steady stream of royalties and has made a packet through a series of canny property investments. He did well from his scene-stealing performances in the Hollywood films A Fish Called Wanda and Splitting Heirs and has a lucrative sideline in the motivational speechmaking and corporate video businesses.
