Who Is Jake DeVito? Everything About Danny DeVito’s Son

Jake DeVito is an American producer and actor who is best known as the youngest child of Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman. While his parents built long and famous careers in front of the camera, Jake has mostly built his own career behind it, working as a producer on film and television projects.

Many people search for Jake DeVito because they know his father from films and from the long running comedy series It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and they know his mother from Cheers. Jake’s own story is quieter, but it is a real working story in its own right, with producing credits, a family production company, and a clear choice to stay out of the loudest parts of fame.

Quick Facts

A Famous Family, From the Start

Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman met in 1971, moved in together soon after, and married on January 28, 1982. They had three children together. Lucy was born in March 1983, Grace was born two years later in 1985, and Jake, their only son and youngest child, was born in October 1987.

That family background matters because Jake grew up inside the entertainment business in a very direct way. His father was not only acting in major films, he was also producing them through his company Jersey Films, which was behind well known titles in the 1990s and 2000s. His mother was one of the most familiar faces on American television thanks to her years as Carla on Cheers.

At home, though, both parents have been described by their children as people who kept family life solid and safe. Jake told the Associated Press in 2022 that he had a great childhood. He said their parents had a lot of interesting people around and that the family travelled to unusual places, but that his parents were good about keeping home steady. That balance – a busy creative world outside and a calm home inside – comes up again and again in interviews with all three children.

His parents separated in 2012, reconciled for a time, and separated again in 2017. They have not divorced, and both have said in interviews that they remain close friends and still see each other often as a family. Jake and his sisters have continued to appear in support of both parents over the years.

Growing Up Around Film Sets and Stories

Growing up as the son of two performers could have pushed Jake in one simple direction, straight into acting. His older sister Lucy did take that path as an actress, while his sister Grace chose painting and performance art and has kept a lower public profile. Jake found a middle path. He acted in a few projects early on, but his stronger interest turned out to be making projects happen.

Danny DeVito once described Jake as a movie buff, and that small detail helps explain the direction he took. A person who loves watching and studying films often ends up wanting to shape them, not only to appear in them. Producing is that kind of work. It is about finding material, supporting writers and directors, solving practical problems, and staying with a project from an early idea to a finished screen version.

Jake has spoken about growing up around unusual and creative people. That kind of childhood does not give anyone a career by itself, but it does give a person comfort in creative rooms. He learned early how sets work, how long projects take, and how many people are needed to make even a short film. Those lessons are hard to learn from the outside, and they help explain why his later credits are mostly in production rather than in publicity or in front of the camera work.

It is also worth noting what Jake did not do. He did not build a public life around being a celebrity child. He has no widely public personal social media presence, and interviews with him are tied to projects, not to his private life. That choice has stayed consistent from his early credits to his recent work.

Early Acting Credits and the Move Into Producing

Jake’s earliest listed acting work includes the film Pieces of a Dream in 2005. He later appeared in Amboy and in the short film Curmudgeons in 2016, a project directed by his father, in which Jake also worked as a producer. These roles were small and spaced out, and they never became the main part of his career.

His producing work is more substantial. In 2014 he had producing credits connected to The Better Angels, Fair Chase, and the short film Quicksand. He was a producer on Curmudgeons in 2016 and on the short Wererock in 2020. Each of these projects is modest in scale compared with his father’s biggest films, but together they show a steady pattern of work over many years, not a single vanity credit.

That pattern matters when readers judge whether a famous person’s child has a real career. In Jake’s case the record shows repeated producing work across different formats – features, shorts, documentary style work, and later television animation and a sports docuseries. Some online profiles also list technical and crew credits for him on earlier projects, which fits a familiar path for young producers who learn the business by doing several jobs on set.

Details about any work Jake may have done outside entertainment, including claims on some biography sites about work in finance, are not confirmed by strong sources and should be treated as unconfirmed. The confirmed public record is his film and television work.

Little Demon and Jersey Films 2nd Avenue

Jake’s best known credit is the animated series Little Demon, which aired on FXX in 2022. The series starred his sister Lucy DeVito as the voice of Chrissy, with Danny DeVito voicing the Devil and Aubrey Plaza voicing Chrissy’s mother. Jake served as an executive producer on the series, alongside Lucy.

Little Demon is also the key project of Jersey Films 2nd Avenue, the second production company Danny DeVito created with Lucy and Jake. The company name carries on the Jersey Films story that began in 1991, but this version is a family company for the next generation. Reports about the company list Jake in a senior role, described in some coverage as a co-president, working alongside his sister and father.

Working with family can look easy from the outside, but it brings its own test. Every decision is both a business decision and a family one. Jake’s public comments about the show were focused on the work itself and on the strange, funny world the writers built, rather than on the family connection. That professional tone is part of why his producing career is taken seriously.

More recently, his name has been linked as a producer to Game 7, a Prime Video sports docuseries released in 2024 that looked back at famous deciding games in sports history. The move from animation to sports documentary shows range. It also shows that his work is not limited to projects that star members of his own family.

His Private Life Today

Very little is confirmed in public about Jake DeVito’s private life, and that appears to be his choice. He does not give interviews about relationships, and reliable reports do not confirm a spouse or children. Many websites publish claims about his personal life and money, but those claims are not backed by strong sources and should be read as unconfirmed.

What is public is his family role. He is an uncle now, as his sisters have become mothers in recent years, a happy change his parents have talked about with pride. He also continues to be seen at family events supporting his parents and sisters, even though he avoids regular red carpet attention.

His parents have often said they are proud that none of their children felt pressure to follow a set path. Grace said in a 2021 interview that there was no pressure at all, and that her parents were excited about whatever the children chose to do. Jake’s path – quiet, production focused, and project by project – fits that family picture well.

For readers, the fair way to see Jake today is simple. He is a working producer in his late thirties who grew up in a famous home, learned the business from the inside, and chose the side of the camera where the work is less visible but just as important.

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FAQs

When was Jake DeVito born?

Jake DeVito was born in October 1987. He is the youngest of Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman’s three children and their only son.

What does Jake DeVito do for a living?

He is a producer, with some early acting credits. He was an executive producer on Little Demon and works with his father and sister Lucy through Jersey Films 2nd Avenue.

Who are Jake DeVito’s sisters?

His older sisters are Lucy Chet DeVito, an actress, and Grace Fan DeVito, a painter and performance artist who keeps a lower public profile.

Is Jake DeVito married?

There is no confirmed public information about a marriage. Jake keeps his private life out of public view, and claims on small biography sites are unconfirmed.

Final Thoughts

Jake DeVito’s story is not a story of sudden fame. It is the story of a youngest child in a very famous family who found the part of the family business that suited him best. Acting came first in a small way, but producing became his real work, from short films in 2014 to an animated series with his father and sister and a sports docuseries after that.

He has done all of this while keeping his private life private, which is rare and, for many readers, refreshing. If you came here asking who Jake DeVito is, the clear answer is this – he is Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman’s son, yes, but he is also a producer building his own record, one project at a time.

Featured photo: Danny DeVito – photo by Mario A. P., CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons