Rodney Dangerfield

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For the UK TV series, see Dangerfield (TV program)

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Rodney Dangerfield (November 22, 1921 – October 5, 2004), born Jacob Cohen, was an American comedian and actor, best known for the line "I don't get no respect" and his monologues on that theme.

1 Early life and career
2 Later years
3 Selected filmography
4 TV Work
5 External links

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Early life and career

He was born in the Long Island, New York town of Babylon, the son of vaudevillian Phil Roy (Philip Cohen). Rodney would later say that his father "was never home — he was out looking to make other kids," and that his mother "brought him up all wrong". As a teenager, he got his start writing jokes for standup comics; he became one himself at 19 under the name Jack Roy. He struggled financially for nine years, at one point performing as a singing waiter (he was fired), before giving up show business to take a job selling aluminum siding to support his wife and family. He later said that he was so little known then that, "When I quit, I was the only one who knew that I quit!"

It is sometimes said that Rodney resented this early rejection by audiences, but he would later state in his typical fashion that they were absolutely right — he was terrible. In the early 1960s he started down what would be a long road toward rehabilitating his career, still working as a salesman by day. He came to realize that what he lacked was an "image" — a well-defined on-stage persona that audiences could relate to and that would distinguish him from similar comics. He took the name Rodney Dangerfield, a pseudonym which had been used by Ricky Nelson on the TV program The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. He once said that when a friend first saw his new name, he said, "Rodney Dangerfield???" and Rodney responded, "Hey, if you're going to change your name, change it!" However, Jack Roy remained his legal name, as he mentioned from time to time.

His trademark line was inspired by the 1972 film The Godfather, with its memorable depiction of Mafia bosses who place tremendous value on being treated with "respect". Rodney saw that the reverse — a character who got no respect from anyone at all — would be seen by audiences as funny and sympathetic.

His very first "no respect" joke: "I don't get no respect. I played hide-and-seek, and they wouldn't even look for me." He would write thousands more over the years.

With his image established, Rodney began headlining shows in Las Vegas and made dozens of appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show and The Dean Martin Show. He would appear on The Tonight Show a total of 70 times.

In November of 1996 he appeared on The Simpsons as Mr. Burns' son Larry. The character was modeled on Rodney, right down to his tie tug. A sample of "Larry's" dialogue: "Man, it was rough getting a ride out here. The only car that stopped was a hearse that thought I fell out. It was rough, I tell ya."

He would also tell conventional jokes: "I grew up in a tough neighborhood. Tough neighborhood! Teachers would get notes from parents saying, 'Please excuse Johnny for the next 5 to 10 years!'"

Rodney's Manhattan nightclub, "Dangerfield's", was the venue for an HBO show which helped popularize many stand-up comics, including Jerry Seinfeld, Jim Carrey, Tim Allen, Roseanne Barr, Jeff Foxworthy, Sam Kinison, Rita Rudner, and Bob Saget. Rodney bought it in 1969 in order to remain near his children after his divorce from their mother.

Image:Album no respect.jpg His career peaked during the early 1980s, with his appearance in Caddyshack, starring roles in Easy Money and Back To School and the release of his Grammy Award-winning comedy album No Respect. He played an abusive father in Natural Born Killers in a scene where he wrote his own lines.

In 1994, Rodney won an American Comedy Award for lifetime creative achievement. He was also recognized by the Smithsonian Institution, which put one of his trademark white shirts and red ties on display.

In 1995, his application for membership in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was rejected. At the time, Rodney commented on how then-president of AMPAS, Roddy McDowall, who acted in a monkey suit in the Planet of the Apes series of films, possibly felt that Rodney wasn't dignified enough to join the organization. AMPAS would later change their decision and offer membership, an offer he declined.

The confusion of Rodney's stage persona with his real-life personality was a conception that he long resented. Described by his wife as "classy, gentlemanly, sensitive and intelligent" [1], people who met the comedian nonetheless treated him as the belligerent loser whose character he adopted in performance.

In 2004, Rodney's autobiography, It's Not Easy Bein' Me: A Lifetime of No Respect but Plenty of Sex and Drugs (ISBN 0066211077) was published. The book's original title was My Love Affair With Marijuana, a reference to the drug he smoked daily for sixty years.

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Later years

On April 8, 2003, Dangerfield underwent brain surgery to improve blood flow in preparation for heart valve-replacement surgery on August 24, 2004. Upon entering the hospital, he uttered another one-liner of the type he was known for: asked how long he would be hospitalized, he said, "If all goes well, about a week. If not, about an hour-and-a-half."

In September 2004, it was revealed that Dangerfield, then aged 82, had been in a coma for several weeks. Afterward, he had been breathing on his own and had been showing signs of awareness when visited by friends. However, on October 5, 2004, he died at the UCLA Medical Center, where he had undergone the surgery in August. He was interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.

He was married twice to Joyce Indig - from 1949 to 1962, and then from 1963 to 1970 - with whom he had a son named Brian and a daughter named Melanie. From 1993 to his death he was married to Joan Child. Joan was instrumental in setting up his Internet site, which he would mention on TV and also admit that he had no clue about how this new technology worked.

When Johnny Carson died on January 23, 2005, a correspondent from CNN called Rodney's longtime publicist Kevin Sasaki, and asked whether Dangerfield would be available to share comments on the air about Carson. Sasaki replied "Unless CNN had a new way of linking up to the afterlife via satellite, that would be impossible."

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