Roseanne Arnold Files for Divorce, Jolts TV Industry : Entertainment: Star of top-rated show claims abuse by husband, Tom. Effect on their productions is uncertain.

Roseanne Arnold filed for divorce Monday from her husband, Tom, apparently ending a professional partnership known for its intimidating show business clout and a personal union that she says was secretly plagued by alleged physical and psychological abuse.

Arnold, star of ABC’s top-rated “Roseanne” series, filed divorce papers in Los Angeles Superior Court three days after bitter arguments by the couple outside the Studio City set of “Roseanne” and at their Brentwood home.

In court papers, she wrote: “Throughout our marriage, (Tom Arnold) has been physically and emotionally abusive toward me. I now realize that I am a classic battered and abused wife who has tolerated the conduct . . . only because (Arnold) has successfully lowered my self-esteem and reduced me into the realm of battered wife syndrome.”

The split instantly became a hot topic on radio and television shows nationwide Monday. It also fueled speculation in many entertainment industry circles about whether the “Roseanne” series and the couple’s several other television and motion picture projects, under their Wapello County production company arm, would be affected.

The Arnolds, who have been married four years, were executive producers of “Roseanne,” “Tom,” and last season’s “The Jackie Thomas Show,” canceled by ABC. They signed a long-term development deal last year with Warner Bros. to produce several comedy series.

If Roseanne Arnold presses ahead with the divorce, it would mark another twist in a tempestuous relationship that made network executives jump through hoops to please television’s top female star. Roseanne Arnold recently had expressed unhappiness with ABC, and executives at other networks, including CBS, have been trying to woo her away.

Neither Arnold could be reached for comment Monday.

During the marriage, Roseanne Arnold’s popularity gave her enough power to influence executives at ABC and CBS to pluck her husband out of relative obscurity and make him the star of two network series. One was “The Jackie Thomas Show” and the other is “Tom” on CBS, which is struggling and not expected to be renewed for next fall.

Despite the fact that she was the bigger star, Roseanne Arnold had maintained that he was the key creative force that kept “Roseanne” on top of the ratings. She also credited him with rescuing her from her first, unhappy marriage and a tormented past.

“He’s the one person who has ever kept up with me,” she was quoted as saying in a Vanity Fair magazine profile this year. “We’ve had bad stuff, too, but he tried very hard to take care of me. I do with him too. That’s real nice.”

The couple seemed to be together constantly, and their antics were continual fodder for tabloids and entertainment news outlets. They once mooned a camera with their respective rear-end tattoos at a sports event. They were photographed mud-wrestling for Vanity Fair. They both disclosed that they were victims of child abuse. They gave freely to charity and would appear on each other’s shows.

David Colden, an entertainment attorney compared the split of the Arnolds to that of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, who owned the Desilu production company.

“Desi, in terms of the business was far more important. But Roseanne is the heir-apparent to the comedy crown that Lucy had in the 1950s. Creatively, where the company will go will be guided by her. How the loss of her life partner will affect her mentally will have a business impact. But that’s true of any divorce. Lucy went on to a number of other successful series.”

In an affidavit filed in support of a temporary restraining order, Roseanne Arnold described several violent incidents in which she said her husband attacked her. She maintained that her husband, throughout their marriage, “hit me, struck me, has thrown objects at me, pinched me and verbally abused me. He has also pushed me against walls, while he screams and shouts at me, drowning out any possible pleas that I might make for him to stop.”

Last Friday, Roseanne Arnold wrote that she attempted to bar Tom from the “Roseanne” studio, but that he gained entry anyway “and assaulted four people in a violent episode. He scratched and hit these individuals.”

Later that night, she said Tom Arnold threatened her three children at the couple’s Brentwood home. She said he had moved out of the house six months earlier into a Westside condo under mutual agreement.

She accused him of becoming more violent in recent months: “I have finally come to the realization that I must not subject myself to his conduct. My life would be ruined if I continue in this abusive relationship.”

Roseanne Arnold has alleged for several years that she was sexually, physically and emotionally abused by her parents. Those accusations were disputed by her family Sunday in a segment on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” in which her family said Roseanne Arnold had fabricated the allegations.

How the split between Roseanne and Tom Arnold will affect both careers will be watched closely by the industry. It was rare that the couple was separated. She had dedicated her recent autobiography, “My Lives,” to her spouse.

“To Tom,” she wrote. “You and I are our own garden. Unpruned, unmarked, we drink and grow, gnarled in elemental magic. . . . I float through you, My love.”

Despite their professed love for one another, rumors have circulated for months that he had been having an affair with Kim Silva, his assistant. The Arnolds, in fact, openly joked about the rumors and--in a publicity stunt--announced a three-way “marriage.” They even presented Silva with an eight-carat-diamond engagement ring.

Skeptics predicted Monday that the rift might be another one of the Arnolds’ headline-grabbing stunts.

“After all, the argument did come on the last day of this season’s filming for ‘Roseanne,’ ” said one source close to the show who asked not to be identified.

Another source close to the couple said: “It seems oddly calculated, the timing of it coming at the end of filming. They strike me as a couple who doesn’t break up until one of them gets a bullet in the head.”

Times staff writer Eric Malnic contributed to this story.