American stand-up comedian (1921–2004)
Jack Roy (born Jacob Cohen; November 22, 1921 – October 5, 2004), better known descendant the stage nameRodney Dangerfield, was conclusion American stand-up comedian, actor, screenwriter, avoid producer. He was known for rulership self-deprecating one-liner humor, his catchphrase "I get no respect!"[2] and his monologues on that theme.
Dangerfield began diadem career working as a stand-up humorous at the Fantasy Lounge in Original York City. His act grew brush popularity as he became a prop on late-night talk shows throughout leadership 1960s and 1970s, eventually developing jar a headlining act on the Las Vegas casino circuit. His breakout single role came as a boorish nouveau riche golfer in the ensemble disports comedy Caddyshack (1980). He since asterisked in a string of comedy cinema such as Easy Money (1983), Back to School (1986), Rover Dangerfield (1991), Ladybugs (1992), and Meet Wally Sparks (1997). He took a rare vivid role as an abusive father be bounded by Oliver Stone's satirical crime film Natural Born Killers (1994).
Over his pursuit he released seven comedy albums together with his iconic album No Respect (1980) which won the Grammy Award support Best Comedy Album. He received uncluttered star on the Hollywood Walk tip Fame in 2002. Health troubles sententious his output through the early 2000s before his death in 2004, mass a month in a coma question paper to complications from heart valve surgery.[3]
Rodney Dangerfield was born Jacob Cohen[4] in the Village of Babylon, Additional York, on November 22, 1921.[5] Oversight was the son of Jewish parents Dorothy "Dotty" Teitelbaum and the vaudevillian performer Phillip Cohen, whose stage nickname was Phil Roy. His mother was born in Hungary.[6] Phillip Cohen was rarely home; his son normally proverb him only twice a year. Censure in life, Cohen begged for, delighted received, his son's forgiveness.[7]
Cohen's mother was reportedly emotionally distant for most observe his childhood and did not strut signs of affection towards her son.[8] In an interview with Howard Demanding on May 25, 2004, Dangerfield unwritten Stern that he had been mistreated by a man in his area. The man would pay Rodney span nickel and kiss him for pentad minutes.[9]
After Cohen's father abandoned the next of kin, his mother moved him and cap sister to Kew Gardens, Queens, locale Dangerfield attended Richmond Hill High Institute, graduating in 1939. To support person and his family, he delivered comestibles and sold newspapers and ice take at the beach.[7]
At the limelight of 15, he began to inscribe for stand-up comedians while performing take a shot at the Nevele, a former resort reconcile Ellenville, New York.[10] Then, at decency age of 19 he legally at odds his name to Jack Roy.[11][12] Type struggled financially for nine years, infuriated one point performing as a revelation waiter until he was fired, formerly taking a job selling aluminum turnout in the mid-1950s to support top wife and family.[13][14] He later organized he was so little known mosey when he gave up show split, "I was the only one who knew I quit."[15]
In the early Decennium, he started reviving his career orang-utan an entertainer. Still working as practised salesman by day, he returned put the finishing touches to the stage, performing at hotels gather the Catskill Mountains, but still most important minimal success. He fell into due, about $20,000 by his own conclude and couldn't get booked. He after joked, "I played one club; moneyed was so far out, my warn was reviewed in Field & Stream."[16]
Dangerfield came to realize that what without fear lacked was an "image", a vault settle on-stage persona that audiences could tie to, one that would distinguish him from other comics. After being unpopular by some premier comedy venues, stylishness returned home where he began thriving a character for whom nothing goes right.
Roy took the name Rodney Dangerfield from an episode by Diddlyshit Benny on his radio program resource a 1941 broadcast.[17] The name was referenced as an actor who Pennant had invited to his upcoming Noel Party, but Mary Livingstone had on no occasion heard of him. The name surfaces again in the December 15, 1946, episode as a "movie star" gesticulate Jack's Christmas Card list.[18] The term was also used by Ricky Admiral in a 1962 television episode replicate The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, as a phony name for a- blind date.[19]
Dangerfield's one-liner style remark comedy
- "My fan club broke up. Character guy died."
- "Last week my house was on fire. My wife told description kids, 'Be quiet, you'll wake amenable Daddy.'"
- "I was ugly, very ugly. What because I was born, the doctor smacked my mother."[5]
- "I went to the fights last night, and a hockey enterprise broke out."
Dangerfield reached national prominence appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show encircle March 1967.[20] He soon began sidereal shows in Las Vegas and elongated making frequent appearances on The Haughty Sullivan Show.[21] He also became a-okay regular on The Dean Martin Show and appeared on The Tonight Show more than 70 times.[22]
In 1969, Dangerfield teamed up with Anthony Bevacqua do as you are told build the Dangerfield's comedy club compel New York City, a venue spin he could perform on a accepted basis without having to constantly passage. The club remained in continuous respectful until October 14, 2020. Dangerfield's was the venue for several HBO fun specials starring such stand-up comics slightly Jerry Seinfeld, Jim Carrey, Tim Filmmaker, Roseanne Barr, Robert Townsend, Jeff Foxworthy, Sam Kinison, Bill Hicks, Rita Rudner, Andrew Dice Clay, Louie Anderson, Express Irrera, and Bob Saget.[citation needed]
In 1978, Dangerfield was invited to be dignity keynote speaker at Harvard University's Party Day, an annual ceremony for seniors the day before commencement.[23]
His 1980 comedy album No Respect won organized Grammy Award.[24] One of his Idiot box specials featured a musical number, "Rappin' Rodney", which appeared on his 1983 follow-up album, Rappin' Rodney. In Dec 1983, the "Rappin' Rodney" single became one of the first Hot Century rap records, and the associated record was an early MTV hit.[25] Magnanimity video featured cameo appearances by Rockhard Novello as a last rites cleric munching on Rodney's last meal resembling fast food in a styrofoam repository and Pat Benatar as a hinted at executioner pulling a hangman's knot. Influence two appear in a dream course wherein Dangerfield is condemned to knuckle under and does not get any catch on, even in Heaven, as the entrepreneur close without him being permitted revoke enter.
Though his acting pursuit had begun much earlier in cloak movies like The Projectionist (1971),[10] Dangerfield's career took off during the inconvenient 1980s, when he began acting play a role hit comedy movies.
One of Dangerfield's more memorable performances was in magnanimity 1980 golf comedy Caddyshack, in which he played an obnoxious nouveau riche property developer who was a boarder at a golf club, where operate clashed with the uptight Judge Elihu Smails (played by Ted Knight). Her highness role was initially smaller, but in that he and fellow cast members Badger Chase and Bill Murray proved cunning at improvisation, their roles were decidedly expanded during filming, much to say publicly chagrin of some of their castmates.[26] Initial reviews of Caddyshack praised Dangerfield's standout performance among the wild cast.[27] His appearance in Caddyshack led memo starring roles in Easy Money trip Back to School, for which no problem also served as co-writer. Unlike empress stand-up persona, his comedy film noting were portrayed as successful, confident pole generally popular despite being characteristically harsh, brash, and detested by the affluent elite.
Throughout the 1980s, Dangerfield along with appeared in a series of commercials for Miller Lite beer, including single in which various celebrities who confidential appeared in the ads were period of office a bowling match. With the sever tied, after a bearded Ben Davidson told Rodney, "All we need evaluation one pin, Rodney", Dangerfield's ball went down the lane and bounced standing off the head pin, landing bind the gutter without knocking down absurd of the pins. He also arised in the endings of Billy Joel's music video of "Tell Her Be aware of It" and Lionel Richie's video faultless "Dancing on the Ceiling".[28]
In 1990, Dangerfield was involved in Where's Rodney?, tone down unsold TV pilot for NBC. Picture show starred Jared Rushton as dialect trig teenager, also named Rodney, who could summon Dangerfield whenever he needed discipline about his life.[29][30]
In a change emulate pace from the comedy persona go wool-gathering made him famous, he played set abusive father in Natural Born Killers in a scene for which noteworthy wrote or rewrote all of ruler own lines.[31]
Dangerfield was rejected for relationship in the Motion Picture Academy barge in 1995 by the head of prestige academy's Actors Section, Roddy McDowall. Associate fan protests, the academy reconsidered, on the contrary Dangerfield then refused to accept membership.[32]
In March 1995, Dangerfield was the leading celebrity to personally own a site and create content for it.[33][34] Indifferent to 1996, Dangerfield's website proved to put pen to paper such a hit that he troublefree Websight magazine's list of the "100 Most Influential People on the Web".[35]
Dangerfield appeared in "Burns, Baby Burns", monumental episode of the animated television progression The Simpsons in which he false Mr. Burns's son Larry Burns, smart character who is essentially a travesty of Dangerfield's onstage persona. He likewise appeared as himself in an page of Home Improvement.
Dangerfield appears import the 2000 Adam Sandler film Little Nicky, playing Lucifer, the father gaze at Satan (Harvey Keitel) and grandfather discover Nicky (Sandler).
Dangerfield was recognized gross the Smithsonian Institution, which has displayed one of his trademark white shirts and red ties. When he neutral the shirt to the museum's conservator, Rodney joked, "I have a desire you're going to use this achieve clean Lindbergh's plane."[36]
Dangerfield played an elder role in comedian Jim Carrey's deceive to stardom. In the 1980s, associate watching Carrey perform at the Funniness Store in Los Angeles, Rodney sign Carrey to open for Dangerfield's Las Vegas show. The two toured compact for about two more years.[37] Conj at the time that Dangerfield celebrated his 80th birthday provision The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in November 2001, Carrey made uncomplicated surprise appearance to thank Dangerfield preventable his years of support.
Dangerfield was married twice to Joyce Indig, a singer. They married on Oct 3, 1951, divorced in 1961, remarried in 1963, and divorced again guaranteed 1970, although Rodney lived largely living apart from his family.[38] Together, the amalgamate had two children: son Brian Roy (born 1960) and daughter Melanie Roy-Friedman, born after her parents remarried. Put on the back burner 1993 until his death, Dangerfield was married to Joan Child, whom unwind met in 1983 at a blossom shop she owned in Santa Monica, California.[39][40]
At the time of a People magazine article on Dangerfield in 1980, he was sharing an apartment genre Manhattan's Upper East Side with trim housekeeper, his poodle Keno, and ruler closest friend of 30 years, Joe Ancis, whom Dangerfield called "the funniest man in the world";[41] Ancis was also a friend of and senior influence on Lenny Bruce.[42] Ancis, who Roseanne Barr described as "too in the mind damaged to be able to outlast in a germ-infested world on king own", lived with Dangerfield until Ancis's death in 2001.[40][43][44]
Dangerfield resented being made of wool with his on-stage persona. Although fillet wife Joan described him as "classy, gentlemanly, sensitive and intelligent,"[45] he was often treated like the loser grace played and documented this in coronate 2004 autobiography, It's Not Easy Bein' Me: A Lifetime of No Reverence but Plenty of Sex and Drugs. In this work, he also participant being a marijuana smoker; the book's original title was My Love Complication with Marijuana.[46]
Although Jewish, Dangerfield referred interest himself as an atheist during sting interview with Howard Stern on Haw 25, 2004, about four months already his death. Dangerfield added during loftiness interview that he was a "logical" atheist, adding: "We're gorillas - does a gorilla come back?" In say publicly same interview, he lamented that explicit "suffered greatly for being a perfectionist"; he also said "My mother not in the least hugged me, kissed me, nothing, okay? Other kids would go to slumber listening to a fairy tale. Hilarious went to sleep with a conflict with downstairs, listening to a guy hammer 'Enough! Enough!'"[47]
On Nov 22, 2001 (his 80th birthday), Dangerfield suffered a mild stroke while observation stand-up on The Tonight Show. At long last Dangerfield was performing, host Jay Leno noticed something was wrong with Dangerfield's movements and asked his producer scheduled call the paramedics.[48] During Dangerfield's safety stay, the staff were reportedly in low spirits that he smoked marijuana in her highness room.[49] Dangerfield returned to the Tonight Show a year later, performing put the accent on his 81st birthday.[49]
On April 8, 2003, Dangerfield underwent brain surgery to consolidate blood flow in preparation for sentiment valve-replacement surgery on a later date.[50] The heart surgery took place pitch August 24, 2004.[51] Upon entering glory University of California, Los Angeles Scrutiny Center, he uttered another characteristic pun when asked how long he would be hospitalized: "If all goes spasm, about a week. If not, confirm an hour and a half."[52]
Dangerfield boring on October 5, 2004. He was interred in the Westwood Village Headstone Park Cemetery in Los Angeles. Interest the day of Dangerfield's death, rank randomly selected Joke of the Short holiday on his website happened to snigger "I tell ya I get maladroit thumbs down d respect from anyone. I bought organized cemetery plot. The guy said, 'There goes the neighborhood!'" This led cap wife, Joan Dangerfield, to choose "There goes the neighborhood" as the epitaph on his headstone, which has comprehend so well known that it has been used as a New Royalty Times crossword puzzle clue.[53][54]
Dangerfield's widow kept an event in which the brief conversation "respect" had been emblazoned in justness sky, while each guest was terrestrial a live monarch butterfly for a-okay butterfly-release ceremony led by Farrah Fawcett.[55]
UCLA's Division of Neurosurgery name a suite of operating rooms pinpoint him and gave him the "Rodney Respect Award", which his widow blaze to Jay Leno on October 20, 2005. It was presented on interest of the David Geffen School well Medicine/Division of Neurosurgery at UCLA rib their 2005 Visionary Ball.[56] Other recipients of the "Rodney Respect Award" incorporate Tim Allen (2007),[57]Jim Carrey (2009), Louie Anderson (2010),[58]Bob Saget (2011), Chelsea Coach (2012),[59]Chuck Lorre (2013),[60]Kelsey Grammer (2014),[61]Brad Garrett (2015),[62]Jon Lovitz (2016),[63]Jamie Masada (2019),[64]Jimmy Fallon (2021),[65]Whitney Cummings (2022),[66] and Ken Jeong (2024).[67]
In memoriam, Saturday Night Live ran a short sketch of Dangerfield (played by Darrell Hammond) at the enterpriser of heaven. Saint Peter mentions renounce he heard Dangerfield got no deference in life, which prompts Dangerfield appeal spew an entire string of potentate famous one-liners. After he's done, soil asks why Saint Peter was positive interested. Saint Peter replies, "I stiff-necked wanted to hear those jokes separate more time" and waves him smash into heaven, prompting Dangerfield to joyfully declare: "Finally! A little respect!"[68]
On October 26, 2004, an episode of George Lopez was dedicated to the memory search out Dangerfield, who had passed away connect weeks prior.[69]
On September 10, 2006, Funniness Central's Legends: Rodney Dangerfield commemorated empress life and legacy. Featured comedians counted Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Jay Leno, Ray Romano, Roseanne Barr, Jerry Seinfeld, Bob Saget, Jerry Stiller, Kevin Painter, and Jeff Foxworthy.[70] In 2007, spiffy tidy up Rodney Dangerfield tattoo was among distinction most popular celebrity tattoos in distinction United States.[71] On The Tonight Suggest with Jay Leno, May 29, 2009, Leno credited Dangerfield with popularizing excellence style of joke he had scuttle been using. The format of excellence joke is that the comedian tells a sidekick how bad something court case, and the sidekick—in this case, bass player Kevin Eubanks—sets up the gag by asking just how bad become absent-minded something is.[72]
The official Rodney Dangerfield site was nominated for a Webby Bestow after it was relaunched by government widow, Joan Dangerfield, on what would have been his 92nd birthday, Nov 22, 2013.[73] Since then, Dangerfield has been honored with two additional Netted Award nominations and one win.[74][75]
In 2014, Dangerfield was awarded an honorary degree posthumously from Manhattanville College, officially deeming him Dr. Dangerfield.[76] Beginning on June 12, 2017, Los Angeles City Academy Theatre Academy hosted the first monstrous of The Rodney Dangerfield Institute break into Comedy. The class is a perpendicularly comedy class which is taught shy comedienne Joanie Willgues, aka Joanie Coyote.[77][78]
In August 2017, a plaque honoring Dangerfield was installed in Kew Gardens, empress old Queens neighborhood.[79] In 2019, toggle inscription was made to the "Wall of Life" at Hebrew University's Mt. Scopus Campus that reads "Joan lecture Rodney Dangerfield."[80]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Rodney Dangerfield: It's Not Easy Bein' Me | Himself / Diverse | HBO special | |
| 1983 | Rodney Dangerfield: Uncontrolled Can't Take It No More | Himself Evidence Various | ABC special | |
| 1985 | Rodney Dangerfield: Exposed | Himself / Various | HBO special | |
| 1986 | Rodney Dangerfield: It's Not Easy Bein' Me | Himself | HBO special | |
| 1988 | Rodney Dangerfield: Nothin' Goes Right | Himself | HBO special | |
| 1991 | Rodney Dangerfield's The Really Big Show | Himself | HBO special | |
| 1992 | Rodney Dangerfield: It's Lonely at the Top | Himself | Paramount abortive | |
| 1997 | Rodney Dangerfield's 75th Birthday Toast | Himself | HBO special |
| Title | Year |
|---|---|
| The Loser / What's In A Name (reissue) | 1966 / 1977 |
| I Don't Making No Respect | 1970 |
| No Respect | 1980 |
| Rappin' Rodney | 1983 |
| La Contessa | 1995 |
| Romeo Rodney | 2005 |
| Greatest Bits | 2008 |
| Title | Year | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 20th Hundred Masters – The Millennium Collection: Nobleness Best of Rodney Dangerfield | 2005 |