Rodney Dangerfield Remembered: The Comedian's
Lifetime Of Comedy

He was recognized by his trademark phrase - "I don't get no
respect."

Born on November 22, 1921 in Babylon, New York, Rodney
Dangerfield began writing jokes at age 15 and performing his
comedy by his late teens. For ten years, he struggled as a stand
up comedian and worked as a singing waiter to make ends meet.
When his comedy career failed to really take off, Dangerfield,
who had been working in entertainment as Jack Roy, left show
business for a regular job. He spent the 1950's selling aluminum
siding in New Jersey while supporting his first wife and two
children.

He took another chance at show business after his divorce in
1961 and became known for the rest of his life as Rodney
Dangerfield. By this time, he was approaching his fortieth
birthday. His big break came when he appeared as a guest on "The
Ed Sullivan Show." He did what few people were able to do – he
made Ed Sullivan laugh. During the 1960's he made the rounds of
many of the most popular variety shows. He performed his standup
on "The Joey Bishop Show," "The Merv Griffin Show" and "The
Jackie Gleason Show." In 1969 he made his first of 35
appearances on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson." In
addition to his gigs on television, he spent his time making the
rounds of comedy clubs throughout the country.

In 1969, the comedian opened his own standup comedy club,
Dangerfield's in New York City. From its inception, it has been
one of the most popular comedy clubs in America, receiving rave
reviews by top newspapers and entertainment guides. Since
Dangerfield's opened its doors almost 40 years ago it has seen
the likes of Jay Leno, Jim Carey, Chris Rock, Andrew Dice Clay,
Tim Allen and Jerry Seinfeld grace its stage. Many of the comedy
club's biggest draws find themselves as guests on "The Tonight
Show with Jay Leno" or "Late Night With David Letterman."

Having cemented his place in stand up comedy history,
Dangerfield turned his attention to acting. He had his first
movie role in the 1971 film The Projectionist and had a role on
the television show "Benny and Barney: Las Vegas Undercover"
later in the decade. The acting roles came slowly but in 1980 he
landed a role that made him a household name. He starred as the
obnoxious real estate developer Al Czervik in the comedy smash
Caddy Shack. Suddenly people who didn't know much about
comedians knew all about Rodney Dangerfield.

He followed Caddy Shack with two other 1980's comedies, Easy
Money and Back To School. In 1991, he made the animated movie
Rover Dangerfield, the story of a dog that gets no respect.
Throughout his career, his line about getting no respect was his
trademark.

Dangerfield branched out into a serious role next. He played
the abusive father to Juliette Lewis' character in the
controversial film Natural Born Killers. It has been reported
that Dangerfield was allowed to write his own lines for the
role. This was to be his only serious film role. He followed it
with more comedies like Meet Wally Sparks and The Godson. In
2000, the almost 80-year-old comedian starred alongside Adam
Sandler in Little Nicky.

His very last acting role was that of God in 2005's Angels with
Angels. It was released posthumously. Dangerfield died on
October 5, 2004. He had fallen into a coma after heart surgery
and never regained consciousness. His tombstone reflects his
comedy. It reads "Rodney Dangerfield – There Goes the
Neighborhood."

His comedy career spanned over 60 years. In addition to all of
his stage and screen accomplishments during those years, he also
won two awards for his achievements. In 1981 he won a Grammy
Award for his comedy recording titled No Respect. In 1995 the
American Comedy Awards honored him with a Creative Achievement
Award.

One of his lesser-known achievements was that he was the first
entertainment personality to have his own website. In 1995 he
created Rodney.com, which is still in existence today.

During Rodney Dangerfield's career he had success on the comedy
stage, in film, and on the television. He gave countless other
comedians the chance to show their stuff on the stage at his own
comedy club. His trademark line, "I don't get no respect" will
forever be associated with the comedian who in spite of his
onstage persona was loved and respected by millions of fans.

~Ben Anton, 2007


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