PV, are you still with us?
Earl Evleth
Earl
***
Rodney Dangerfield dead at 82
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Rodney Dangerfield, the bug-eyed comic whose
self-deprecating one-liners brought him stardom in clubs, television and
movies and made his lament "I don't get no respect" a catchphrase, died
Tuesday. He was 82.
Dangerfield, who fell into a coma after undergoing heart surgery, died at
1:20 p.m., said publicist Kevin Sasaki. Dangerfield had a heart valve
replaced August 25 at the University of California, Los Angeles, Medical
Center.
Sasaki said in a statement that Dangerfield suffered a small stroke after
the operation and developed infectious and abdominal complications. But in
the past week he had emerged from the coma, the publicist said.
"When Rodney emerged, he kissed me, squeezed my hand and smiled for his
doctors," Dangerfield's wife, Joan, said in the statement. The comic is also
survived by two children from a previous marriage.
As a comic, Dangerfield -- clad in a black suit, red tie and white shirt
with collar that seemed too tight -- convulsed audiences with lines such as:
"When I was born, I was so ugly that the doctor slapped my mother"; "When I
started in show business, I played one club that was so far out my act was
reviewed in Field and Stream"; and "Every time I get in an elevator, the
operator says the same thing to me: `Basement?"'
In a 1986 interview, he explained the origin of his "respect" trademark:
"I had this joke: 'I played hide and seek; they wouldn't even look for me.'
To make it work better, you look for something to put in front of it: I was
so poor, I was so dumb, so this, so that. I thought, 'Now what fits that
joke?' Well, 'No one liked me' was all right. But then I thought, a more
profound thing would be, 'I get no respect."'
He tried it at a New York club, and the joke drew a bigger response than
ever. He kept the phrase in the act, and it seemed to establish a bond with
his audience. After hearing him perform years later, Jack Benny remarked:
"Me, I get laughs because I'm cheap and 39. Your image goes into the soul of
everyone."
Dangerfield had a strange career in show business. At 19 he started as a
standup comedian. He made only a fair living, traveling a great deal and
appearing in rundown joints. Married at 27, he decided he couldn't support a
family on his meager earnings.
He returned to comedy at 42 and began to attract notice. He appeared on the
Ed Sullivan show seven times and on "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson
more than 70 times.
After his standout film role in "Caddyshack," he began starring in his own
movies.
He was born Jacob Cohen on November 22, 1921, in Babylon on New York's Long
Island. Growing up in the borough of Queens, his mother was uncaring and his
father was absent. As Philip Roy, the father and his brother toured in
vaudeville as a pantomime comedy-juggling act, Roy and Arthur. Young Jacob's
parents divorced, and the mother struggled to support her daughter and son.
The boy helped bring in money by selling ice cream at the beach and working
for a grocery store. "I found myself going to school with kids and then in
the afternoon I'd be delivering groceries to their back door," he recalled.
"I ended up feeling inferior to everybody."
He ingratiated himself to his schoolmates by being funny; at 15 he was
writing down jokes and storing them in a duffel bag. When he was 19, he
adopted the name Jack Roy and tried out the jokes at a resort in the
Catskills, training ground for Danny Kaye, Jerry Lewis, Red Button, Sid
Caesar and other comedians. The job paid $12 a week plus room and meals.
In New York, he drove a laundry and fish truck, taking time off to hunt for
work as a comedian. The jobs came slowly, but in time he was averaging $300
a week.
He married Joyce Indig, a singer he met at a New York club. Both had wearied
of the uncertainty of a performer's life.
"We wanted to lead a normal life," he remarked in a 1986 interview. "I
wanted a house and a picket fence and kids, and the heck with show business.
Love is more important, you see. When the show is over, you're alone."
The couple settled in Englewood, New Jersey, had two children, Brian and
Melanie, and he worked selling paint and siding. But the idyllic suburban
life soured as the pair battled. The couple divorced in 1962, remarried a
year later and again divorced.
In 1993, Dangerfield married Joan Child, a flower importer.
At age 42, he returned to show business. He remembered in 1986:
"It was like a need. I had to work. I had to tell jokes. I had to write them
and tell them. It was like a fix. I had the habit."
Even during his domestic years, he continued filling the duffel bag with
jokes. He didn't want to break in his new act with any notice, so he asked
the owner of New York's Inwood Lounge, George McFadden, not to bill him as
Jack Roy. McFadden came up with the absurd name Rodney Dangerfield. It
stuck.
Dangerfield's bookings improved, and he landed television gigs. After his
ex-wife died, he took over the responsibility of raising his two children.
He decided to quit touring and open a New York nightclub, Dangerfield's, so
he could stay close to home. A beer commercial and the Carson shows brought
him national attention.
His film debut came in 1971 with "The Projectionist," which he described as
"the kind of a movie that you went to the location on the subway." He did
better in 1980 with "Caddyshack," in which he held his own with such comics
as Chevy Chase, Ted Knight and Bill Murray.
Despite his good reviews, Dangerfield claimed he didn't like movies or TV
series: "Too much waiting around, too much memorizing; I need that immediate
feedback of people laughing."
Still, he continued starring in and sometimes writing films such as "Easy
Money," "Back to School," "Moving," "The Scout," "Ladybugs" and "Meet Wally
Sparks." He turned dramatic as a sadistic father in Oliver Stone's 1994
"Natural Born Killers."
In 1995, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences rejected
Dangerfield's application for membership. A letter from Roddy McDowall of
the actors branch explained that the comedian had failed to execute "enough
of the kinds of roles that allow a performer to demonstrate the mastery of
his craft."
The ultimate rejection, and Dangerfield played it to the hilt. He had
established his own Web site ("I went out and bought an Apple Computer; it
had a worm in it"), and his fans used it to express their indignation. The
public reaction prompted the academy to reverse itself and offer membership.
Dangerfield declined.
"They don't even apologize or nothing," he said. "They give no respect at
all -- pardon the pun -- to comedy."
Earl Evleth
"he_who_sp...@zeouane.org" <he_who_sp...@zeouane.org> wrote:
> Earl Evleth <evl...@wanadoo.fr> wrote:
>
>> PV, are you still with us?
>
> Quick, FuckWit ... a death threat ... call the FBI !!!
>
I thought he might be Rodger under a false name, since
PV also commands no respect.
Earl
A Planet Visitor
You would be happy to command the respect from your peers
that Rodney commanded from his peers. I mean it isn't polite
of your peers to spit on the ground when you turn your back....
is it?
PV
>Earl
Earl Evleth
Planet Visitor" <abc...@zbqytr.ykq> wrote:
> You would be happy to command the respect from your peers
> that Rodney commanded from his peers. I mean it isn't polite
> of your peers to spit on the ground when you turn your back....
> is it?
`
We were talking about you, PV.
Earl