Charlie Sheen and Denise Richard to divorce

LOS ANGELES - Actor Charlie Sheen and actress Denise Richards have decided to get a divorce, a spokesman for Sheen said.

The announcement ended a highly publicised effort at reconciliation that became fodder for television talk shows and supermarket tabloids.

Sheen spokesman Stan Rosenfield confirmed a report in People magazine on Wednesday that the couple were divorcing but declined to give any details.

People said lawyers for both Sheen and Richards asked in a filing that the case be removed from Los Angeles County Superior Court and handed over to a private divorce arbiter to arrange the details.

The magazine said that until the filing, the pair, who split last spring when Richards was seven months pregnant, seemed to be patching things up.

It added that after the couple's daughter, Lola, was born last June 1, Sheen and Richards spent more time together, including a 65th-birthday party for Sheen's actor father, Martin, on August 7, where the couple shared a loving kiss.

Sheen, 40, even made appearances on television talk shows to discuss his efforts at reconciliation with Richards, 34.

He also was reported to have given her a large diamond ring to "show her how much he wanted things to work out," People said.

- REUTERS