John Cleese married his second wife, actress Barbara Trentham, in 1981, after divorcing from his Fawlty Towers co-star, Connie Booth. The Monty Python actor was married to Ms Trentham until they divorced in 1990 and said he was “hugely fond” of her. However, speaking on the Full Disclosure podcast, released on Thursday, August 25, the 82-year-old spoke of how it was also a “difficult ride”.
Mr Cleese recounted how each time he went back to their home in Holland Park, London, he worried about his wife.
He told how as he made the journey, he would wonder what his wife had been drinking and whether she would answer his greeting with a “slurred” voice.
Talking about what happened after the end of Fawlty Towers in 1979, Mr Cleese said: “The main thing that happened then was I got married a second time to a woman that I hugely fond of, but she was alcoholic and bipolar and that is not an easy ride.
“And I often find it quite hard to remember what I did after that marriage, except that at the very end of it A Fish Called Wanda came out of it.”
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Mr Cleese co-wrote and starred in the comedy film which was released in 1988.
He continued: “But it was a time when things were so uncertain.
“I remember driving home and the fear gripping the gut as you got across one particular road by the police station: ‘what has she been drinking?’
“You know, you come in and say ‘hello, I’m home’ and you listen like a hawk to see if the reply is slurred or not.
“It was a very bad time and also I had my second daughter, the one that I write with all the time, and that was a delight.”
The couple had a daughter together, Camilla, who is now 38 years old.
Unfortunately, Camilla also suffered from addiction at a young age after she started to hang out with the “fast crowd” before she got sober in 2007.
In an interview with the Mail on Sunday in 2008, Camilla said: “‘I want everyone to know that drug addicts and alcoholics come in all shapes and sizes and that addiction cuts across all social boundaries.
“It nearly killed me and I know how lucky I am to be here today. If my story helps just one person, then the hell I put myself and my family through will not have been in vain…
“Finally, I dealt with my emotions. I don’t blame my dad for my problems, but I learned that I had a lot of suppressed rage towards him.
“Like many kids involved in divorce, I felt like he’d abandoned me.”
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Mr Cleese, also interviewed in 2008 for the Mail on Sunday, said his daughter being sober was the “most wonderful gift anyone ever gave him”.
The Frost Report performer added: “‘What we went through was a nightmare.
“But we’re through it now and I cannot tell you how incredibly proud I am of the remarkable young woman my daughter has become.”
Camilla’s mother, Ms Trentham, died on August 3, 2013, at the age of 68 after she suffered complications from leukaemia.
She starred in films including The Possession of Joel Delaney and Sky Riders, and also modeled, appearing on the cover of Vogue.
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