The Monty Python comedian who was ordered to pay £12.5 million in his divorce settlement with third wife Alyce Faye Eichelberger starts his one-man show in Olso, Norway, tonight (02.10.09), returning to the theatre for the first time in four years.
But the 69-year-old star isn’t happy, and his discontent is made clear in the title of the production, A Ludicrous Evening with John Cleese... or How to Finance Your Divorce.
He said: I get angry that I have to pack my trunk, just to go away to make money.
That I, at my age, would have to plan my life anew to pay her all the money she is to get for the next seven years - well, it irritates me.
I'd rather have been drinking coffee, reading books and writing. I can't afford that now.
Details of Cleese’s divorce emerged in August after a 19-month battle in American courts.
A judge ruled he must hand over £8 million in cash and assets to Eichelberger as well as £612,000 a year for the next seven years.
The payout is expected to reduce the actor's overall wealth to around £10 million and has cost him his home in London.
Speaking about the ruling, Cleese told a Norwegian newspaper: I own nothing in England anymore, the apartment in London disappeared in the divorce. But it's OK, I didn't like it very much.
It's madness. There is no consideration of the fact that we have no kids together, of who made the money in our marriage, or that I paid for a very expensive education for her son.
