Biography

Rodney Dangerfield was born Jacob Cohen on November 22, 1921 in Deer Park, Suffolk County, Long Island, New York. He was the son of Dorothy "Dotty" (Teitelbaum) and Phillip Cohen, who performed in vaudeville under the name Phil Roy. His father was born in New York, to Russian Jewish parents, and his mother was a Hungarian Jewish immigrant. Rodney began writing jokes at the age of fifteen, and started performing before he was 20. He took his act to the road for ten years, his stage name was "Jack Roy". While working as a struggling comedian, Rodney Dangerfield worked as a singing waiter. His first run at comedy was to no avail.

Rodney Dangerfield married Joyce Indig, in 1949 and had two children: Brian and Melanie. During the 1950s, Rodney was an aluminum siding salesman, living in New Jersey. The comedian made another attempt at stand-up comedy, this time as Rodney Dangerfield. In 1961, Rodney divorced from his wife.

When he appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show" (The Ed Sullivan Show (1948)), Rodney Dangerfield made Ed Sullivan laugh. Few people ever provoked any kind of reaction out of the legendary Ed Sullivan. Dangerfield had the image of a lovable disgruntled every-man type that became a hit all across nightclubs in the 1960s. Dangerfield also made many appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962) and The Dean Martin Show (1965) in the 1970s.

Rodney Dangerfield snatched a minor supporting part in the movie, The Projectionist (1970), in 1971. By the mid 1970s, he had cemented his image as a comedian constantly tugging at his red tie, always proclaiming he gets no respect. His big break came with many appearances on Saturday Night Live (1975), bringing himself to a much wider audience and proving hysterical on many occasions. In 1980, Dangerfield became a cornerstone of American comedy with the classic Caddyshack (1980).

Here, he played "Al Czervik", a rich golfer who was a basically nice guy who was extremely outspoken and very obnoxious. His character was often unhappy with the rich snobbery he was around, and he takes on the rich people that are so snobby to him.

The average guy that his character portrayed was an instant hit, and a formula that Dangerfield often stuck with. Also, in 1980, Rodney came out with a popular comedy album, "Rappin Rodney".

The album earned Dangerfield a Grammy for best comedy album. The next movie on Rodney's agenda was Easy Money (1983), a comedy that showed him as an insulting working class person who suddenly becomes a millionaire. The movie was also a big hit. Dangerfield became very sparse in his roles on TV and film about this time. The year 1986 saw the comedy, Back to School (1986), his biggest film to date. The comedy was one of the first to gross over 100 million. In 1994, Dangerfield starred in his first dramatic role in the successful Oliver Stone film, Natural Born Killers (1994).

He played an abusive father who drove one of the killers crazy. His part was critically-acclaimed. In 1995, Dangerfield entered the world of cyberspace, becoming the first entertainer to have a website on the world-wide web. In 1997, he starred in Meet Wally Sparks (1997), a political and talk show satire which was poorly received. In 2000, Dangerfield starred as "the Devil" in Little Nicky (2000). The movie was potentially a huge hit, but was a failure by most accounts. Dangerfield took a very small part, but was top-billed in the direct-to-video The Godson (1998), and starred in the direct-to-video link=tt0216930]. But it has not been all smooth sailing for this comedian. In 1997, he admitted to a lifelong bout with depression and, on his 80th birthday, had a mild heart attack. He has major fans from all kinds of people from all different backgrounds. Dangerfield had made a record 70 appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962), and had discovered many struggling comedians, including Jerry Seinfeld, Jim Carrey, Roseanne Barr, Robert Townsend, Sam Kinison and Tim Allen.

The comedian owned a legendary nightclub in Manhattan called "Dangerfield's". In the 1990s, he made highly-publicized appearances on The Simpsons (1989), In Living Color (1990), Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist (1995), Home Improvement (1991), Suddenly Susan (1996), among others.

In 1993, he married Joan Dangerfield (aka Joan Child), a woman thirty years younger than him, and a Mormon.

He died on October 5, 2004, after falling into a coma following heart surgery.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Scott <msa0510@mail.ecu.edu>

Famous one-liners

Wore white shirt and red tie on stage

Nervously dabbing his forehead and neck with a handkerchief

Wide eyes

Went public about his lifelong bout with depression in 1997.

Chosen #36 out of the 50 funniest people by "Entertainment Weekly".

On Nov. 22, 2001, he suffered what was called a "mild" heart attack on his 80th birthday.

His trademark white shirt and red tie are on permanent display at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC.

Through his HBO shows from Dangerfield's--his New York City comedy club--he introduced Jim Carrey, Roseanne Barr, Louie Anderson, Jerry Seinfeld, Tim Allen, Rita Rudner, Sam Kinison, Robert Townsend, Bob Saget, and Jeff Foxworthy to TV.

Was 30 years, 11 months, 3 weeks and 2 days older than his last wife, Joan Dangerfield.

On April 8, 2003, underwent arterial brain surgery to improve his body's blood flow in preparation for a heart valve replacement.

Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith. Pg. 130-132. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387

Was hospitalized 24 August 2004 for heart valve-replacement surgery.

Based his famous "I get no respect" on The Godfather (1972), since he figured that "Vito Corleone" had respect. He also based it on an experience he had at a nightclub. One night, he saw an older, low-level gangster complaining about how young people gave him "no respect, no respect at all" and he never forgot it.

Although there was Hollywood talk that his dramatic performance in Natural Born Killers (1994) was worthy of a supporting actor Oscar nomination, his application for membership in the Academy was rejected.

Died at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles of complications following heart valve replacement surgery he had undergone on August 25, 2004. After the surgery he slipped into a "light coma," from which he emerged briefly before his death. He is buried at Westwood Village Memorial Park in Los Angeles.

The epitaph on his tombstone reads "There goes the neighborhood".

Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume 7, 2003-2005, pages 123-124. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2007.

Despite being known for playing belligerent losers, he was by all accounts a sensitive and intelligent man and resented being confused with his comedic persona.

One of the few actors to have played both God (in Angels with Angles (2005)) and Lucifer (in Little Nicky (2000).

Rodney was appearing on the Tonight Show Starring Jay Leno on November 21, 2001. While Rodney was doing his stand-up act Jay Leno later said that he thought "Rodney seemed a little off, he sweating profusely." He asked the director to call the paramedics. Rodney came over and sat down and finished his appearance, but was greeted back stage by the paramedics. Based on what they saw back stage, the paramedics transported him to the hospital where the next day it was revealed that Rodney had had a mild heart attack.

He wrote two books a joke book called no respect and his autobiographey titled it ain't easy being me.

I don't get no respect, no respect at all!

My wife was afraid of the dark, saw me naked, now she's afraid of the light!

I'm very lucky. Years ago they had images, like W.C. Fields, Laurel and Hardy, Groucho Marx. But today, I think I'm the only one around with an image. And that image is something everyone identified with. They all feel life treated 'em wrong and they got no respect.

[on 8/24/04, before entering a Los Angeles hospital for heart valve replacement surgery] If things go right, I'll be there about a week, and if things don't go right, I'll be there about an hour and a half.

I told my doctor that when I woke up in the morning I couldn't stand looking at myself in the mirror. He said, "At least we know your vision is perfect."

If it weren't for pickpockets, I'd have no sex life at all.

I was an ugly child. I got lost on the beach. I asked a cop if he could find my parents. He said, 'I don't know. There's lots of places for them to hide'.

I was ugly, very ugly. When I was born, the doctor smacked my mother.

At my age, making love is like trying to shoot pool with a rope.

Comedy is a camouflage for depression.

I drink too much. The last time I gave a urine sample it had an olive in it.

I looked up my family tree and found three dogs using it.

When I was a kid my parents moved a lot, but I always found them.

I could tell my parents hated me. My bath toys were a toaster and a radio.

I told my psychiatrist that everyone hates me. He said I was being ridiculous: everyone hasn't met me yet.

To be a comedian you have to get onstage and find out if you're funny.