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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.

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." His mentor throughout the early years of his life was Christopher Drum, who coined the famous catchphrase, "I hate those damn flappers." 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." Finally establishing himself as a man who could produce considerable laughs, he would write thousands more of these types of jokes over the years for the rest of his life, each of which played on the idea of self-deprecation.  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 episode Burns, Baby Burns as Mr. Burns' son Larry. The character was modeled on Rodney, right down to his tie tug, and the line, "I don't get no regard." 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 their mother passed away.   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 (which featured an early MTV hit single, "Rappin' Rodney"). 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. Typical of Rodney's humor when asked about the honor, he complained that the museum was using his shirt to clean Lindbergh's plane. 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 was not 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 0-06-621107-7) was published. The book's original title was My Love Affair With Marijuana, a reference to the drug he smoked daily for sixty years.

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 for which he was known: When 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. In keeping with his "No Respect" persona, his headstone reads simply, "Rodney Dangerfield - There goes the neighborhood." [2].

Also in respect to Rodney, Rodney's wife, Joan Child, had a dream and decided to hold an event in which the word "Respect" had been emblazoned in the sky, each guest was given a live Monarch butterfly for a Native American butterfly release ceremony led by Farrah Fawcett, and many other things that honored his existence took place.

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.

After his death

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."[3]

Homage

Farrah Fawcett is sculpting a life-size bronze statue of Rodney which will be placed in Pierce Brothers Memorial Park. She will be the first celebrity ever to have this done.

UCLA's Division Of Neurosurgery has named a suite of operating rooms after him and given him the "Rodney Respect Award" which his wife presented to Jay Leno on October 20th, 2005, on behalf of the David Geffen School of Medicine/Division of Neurosurgery at UCLA at their 2005 Visionary Ball.

Comedy Central ran a special on him on September 10th, 2006, which commemorated his life and legacy. Featured comedians included Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Ray Romano, Roseanne, Jerry Seinfeld, Bob Saget, Jerry Stiller, Kevin Kline, and Jeff Foxworthy. Whether this will be made into a DVD like many other Comedy Central Specials is unknown at this point.

Selected filmography

• The Projectionist (1971)
• Caddyshack (1980)
• Easy Money (1983) (also writer)
• Back to School (1986) (also writer)
• Moving (1988) (Cameo)
• Rodney Dangerfield: Nothin' Goes Right (1988) (documentary) (also writer)
• Rover Dangerfield (1991) (voice) (also writer and producer)
• Ladybugs (1992)
• Natural Born Killers (1994)
• Casper (1995) (Cameo)
• Meet Wally Sparks (1997) (also writer and producer)
• Rusty: A Dog's Tale (1998) (voice)
• The Godson (1998)
• Pirates: 3D Show (1999) (short subject)
• My 5 Wives (2000) (also writer and producer)
• Little Nicky (2000)
• Back by Midnight (2002) (also writer)
• The 4th Tenor (2002) (also writer)
• Three 'S' a Crowd (2005)
• Angels with Angles (2005)

TV work

• The Dean Martin Show (regular performer from 1972-1973)
• The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (frequent guest host)
• Benny and Barney: Las Vegas Undercover (1977)
• It's Not Easy Bein' Me: The Rodney Dangerfield Show (1982)
• Rodney Dangerfield: It's Not Easy Bein' Me (1986)
• Where's Rodney (1990-1991)
• Rodney Dangerfield's The Really Big Show (1991)
• Rodney Dangerfield: It's Lonely at the Top (1992)
• In Living Color(1993)
• The Simpsons (1996) (voice of Burns's son, Larry Burns)
• Home Improvement (1997) Himself
• Rodney Dangerfield's 75th Birthday Toast (1997)
• The Electric Piper (2003) (voice)
• Phil of the Future (2004) (voice of Max the Dog)
• Still Standing (2004)
• Rodney (2004) Himself (Episode aired shortly after his death)

External links

• Rodney Dangerfield's website
• IMDB profile
• Article about Dangerfield from a Kew Gardens website
• Interview with Sam Esmail on esmail.com
• Interview with Rolling Stone Magazine
• Jungle Roses, the website for his widow's flower importing business
• Audio interview with Fresh Air's Terry Gross from 7/6/04
• Episode capsule for Simpsons episode #4F05 "Burns, Baby Burns"
• Rodney Dangerfield's Gravesite
• [4]

References

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