Danny DeVito's marriage breakdown is "so sad", says one of his friends.

The actor confirmed he is splitting from his wife of 30 years Rhea Perlman yesterday.

Rhea is known for appearing in US TV comedy Cheers, which also starred John Ratzenberger. John was astounded to hear the news when approached by TMZ.

"I didn't know. Are you serious? Oh that's sad. We were just with them the other night. They'd been together a long time - oh that's sad," he said.

Danny and Rhea were thought to have a strong relationship. They wed in 1982 and have three children together, Lucy, 29, 27-year-old Grace and Jacob, 25.

The pair also worked together on TV show Taxi and in the movie Matilda, which was adapted from Roald Dahl's children's novel.

The former couple haven't given any more information about their split.

Danny has recently been promoting his movie The Lorax and will be reprising his role alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in Triplets, a sequel to their hit film Twins.