John Cleese has admitted that he is without a house or a car following multiple marriages and recently gave a flat to his current partner to “make her feel secure”.
The Monty Python star was married to psychotherapist Alyce Faye Eichelberger for 16 years before their split in 2008. In their divorce, Eichelberger received a £20m settlement resulting in Cleese travelling the world with “The Alimony Tour” to raise the money.
It was not the first time Cleese turned to the stage to pay his alimony. He previously took his “A Ludicrous Evening with John Cleese … or How to Finance Your Divorce” tour to Scandinavia. He said at the time that he was unhappy at being forced to go back to work.
Cleese has now been married four times having also been wed to Connie Booth between 1968 and 1978 and Barbra Trentham between 1981 and 1990. The Life of Brian actor married Jennifer Wade, a 53-year-old jewellery designer, in 2012.
Speaking to The Times, Cleese opened up on how the divorces have impacted him financially: “The third wife got two properties, one was in London and one was in New York, and we had to sell the other three. I’ve actually given the flat behind Peter Jones to Jennifer, so I don’t have a house, I don’t have a car,” said the 85-year-old comedian.
Explaining the decision to give the flat in Chelsea to his fourth wife Cleese added: “I [did it] to make her feel secure. I think the greatest, saddest thing about our world is how many women feel unsafe, that’s not a good society.
When asked to explain what he meant, Cleese replied: “Emotionally, they [women] don’t feel very secure. And I think if they have a property, they know that I can’t kick her out … it’s taken anxiety away from her that I think she wasn’t totally aware of.”
This is not the first time that Cleese has shared his situation following his divorce from Eichelberger.
Talking about his third wife in 2024, Cleese told Saga: “Can you believe when I met her, I had a beautiful house in Holland Park and no mortgage and when I broke up with her, I had a flat in Sloane Square and a full mortgage? How they figured out she was worth $20m, I have no idea.”
In the same interview, Cleese also touched on the decision to give the flat to Wade, noting that it made “a huge difference” to her, “but I’m surprisingly poor,” he said.
“I never thought it was necessary to own a great deal. The most important thing is to have enough money to have some really good food, buy clothes twice a year and have nice holidays.”
