The curtain has finally come down on Broadway’s longest-running drama – the divorce of octogenarian Tony-winning producer David Merrick and the wife from whom he has been separated for 14 years.
In a decision released yesterday, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Jacqueline Silbermann signed off on the split between the sparring spouses, awarding Etan Merrick a divorce on the grounds of abandonment.
But the divorce isn’t exactly what she wanted – at least not so soon.
Mrs. Merrick, 54, was originally granted a divorce from her husband in 1995, but never had the judgment entered for fear it would prejudice the ruling she awaits in a financial case against him.
That didn’t sit well with her “Hello, Dolly” producer-husband, who asked Silbermann to bid his wife goodbye so he could tie the knot with longtime live-in lover Natalie Lloyd, 45.
“He argues that he is now 88 years old and would like to remarry,” Silbermann noted in her decision.
The judge found the request reasonable “in light of the fact that these parties have been separated for 14 years” and had lived together only for two.
The producer’s lawyer, Lawrence Pollack, said his client was relieved by the judge’s decision.
David “just wants to get on with his life,” he said, adding he thought Merrick and Lloyd would get married “quite soon.”
The judge also ordered Merrick, who has an estimated $20 million fortune, to keep paying alimony and child support to his ex and her two adopted children, ages 11 and 12, pending the decision in the financial trial. The couple has one daughter together. She is 27.
The lawyer for Etan Merrick refused comment.