Put-upon comic Dangerfield dies at 82 (2024)

Rodney Dangerfield, the protoneurotic Everyman comedian, died Tuesday at UCLA Medical Center after heart surgery. He was 82.

Dangerfield was in a coma after valve replacement surgery Aug. 25 and briefly regained consciousness in the last week, according to his wife, Joan.

Though he did not hit his stride until his mid-40s, Dangerfield made up for lost time with his signature “I don’t get no respect” loser routine, which found him constantly tugging at his shirt collar and tie. His white shirt and red tie were later enshrined in the Smithsonian Institution.

Dangerfield won Grammys and starred in hit movies, discovering a young audience later in life with such hit films as “Caddyshack” and “Back to School.”

But this was a second-act career.

He was born Jacob Cohen in Babylon, Long Island. He had a desire to write comedy at 15 and he began performing as Jack Roy at 17. But the club scene in the ’40s was difficult and the pay meager. He was soon married and a father of two. He continued to pursue comedy full time until he was about 30, but in 1951 he quit the biz to earn a white-collar living.

He never quite lost the itch to perform, though, and after a decade of being a breadwinner, he gave up his regular job to make a second go of comedy. Starting at 40, he picked up the mike again, this time under the moniker Rodney Dangerfield. He again performed on the club circuit and eventually hit the airwaves through the shows of Johnny Carson, Merv Griffin and especially Ed Sullivan.

He appeared on Sullivan’s show 18 times, fashioning what was to become his signature persona, a neurotic, put-upon Everyman complaining, “I don’t get no respect.”

“When I did the Sullivan show for the fourth time, that’s when I came up with the ‘No respect.’ I told the joke, ‘I played hide-and-seek and no one came to look for me’ and that was it,” he once told the Los Angeles Times.

Other regular television outlets include “The Tonight Show” (more than 70 appearances), “The Merv Griffin Show” (45) and “The Dean Martin Show” from 1972-73. He also did numerous commercials, including 20 Miller Lite beer spots.

Throughout the ’80s he appeared in numerous specials, including several of his own on network television and HBO. These include “I Can’t Take It No More,” “Rodney Dangerfield: It’s Not Easy Bein’ Me” and “Rodney Dangerfield’s 75th Birthday Toast” in 1997.

In 1969, he opened the club Dangerfield’s and through that club and his Las Vegas shows he championed young comics including Tim Allen, Roseanne Barr, Jeff Foxworthy and Jim Carrey.

Dangerfield expanded into other venues without ever giving up his standup life and continued performing well into his 70s. He won a Grammy for his 1980 album “I Don’t Get No Respect,” and he followed it with “Rappin’ Rodney” in 1983, which produced a hit single and video. Though he officially made his film debut in 1971’s “The Projectionist,” film stardom came from the 1980 golfing comedy “Caddyshack,” followed by two other successful comedies, 1983’s “Easy Money” and, especially, 1986’s “Back to School,” which grossed more than $100 million.

Through these films, the aged comic built a large, youthful audience that kept his comedic persona alive and thriving long after most of his contemporaries had faded away.

Dangerfield’s film appearances tapered off at the end of the ’80s. He kicked off the following decade by penning 1991’s Warner Bros.’ “Rover Dangerfield,” translating his stage and film persona into a toon dog for which he provided the voice.

As the ’90s progressed, Dangerfield’s film appearances were divided between supporting roles in larger pics such as Oliver Stone’s “Natural Born Killers” and Adam Sandler’s “Little Nicky”and films that traded on his familiar Everyman character, to diminishing B.O. returns. His TV appearances include spots on “Suddenly, Susan, “Home Improvement” and “The Simpsons.”

Dangerfield penned books “I Couldn’t Stand My Wife’s Cooking, So I Opened a Restaurant” and “I Don’t Get No Respect.”

In 1995, Dangerfield earned a great deal of respect, winning the male lifetime creative achievement nod at the American Comedy Awards. His autobiography “It’s Not Easy Bein’ Me: A Lifetime of No Respect, but Plenty of Sex and Drugs” was published in June.

Dangerfield is survived by wife Joan and two children. Memorial services in Los Angeles are in the works.