Jacob Cohen
12 min read
Reading time
2,304
Words
Published
60
Film credits
3
Books
1
Award
Rodney Dangerfield, born Jacob Cohen on November 22, 1921, in Deer Park, New York, left show business for years before returning as a new persona. His break came with the 1980 film Caddyshack, playing Al Czervik. That year he won a Grammy for Rappin’ Rodney. He appeared 70 times on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Dangerfield died on October 5, 2004, from complications of heart surgery.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Rodney Dangerfield — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Rodney Dangerfield by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Rodney Dangerfield — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
Jacob Cohen was born on November 22, 1921, in Deer Park, Long Island. His father, Phillip Cohen, performed in vaudeville as Phil Roy; his mother Dorothy was a Hungarian Jewish immigrant. At fifteen, Dangerfield started writing jokes and soon performed as Jack Roy. After a decade on the road, he quit comedy and became an aluminum siding salesman in New Jersey. He later returned with a new name and stage persona.
Dangerfield broke through with appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1961, making the famously stoic Sullivan laugh. He developed his persona of a disgruntled everyman tugging at his red tie, often saying I get no respect. In 1980, he starred in Caddyshack as Al Czervik, which made him a household name. That year his album Rappin’ Rodney won a Grammy for Best Comedy Album. He followed with Easy Money 1983 and Back to School 1986, the latter grossing over $100 million. In 1994, he earned critical praise for his dramatic role in Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers.
Dangerfield married Joyce Indig in 1949; they had two children, Brian and Melanie, divorced in 1961, remarried in 1963, and divorced again in 1970. In 1993, he married Joan Child, a Mormon thirty years his junior. Despite his success, he suffered from lifelong depression and went public about it in 1997. On his 80th birthday, he had a mild heart attack.
Rodney Dangerfield’s impact extends beyond his films. Through his Manhattan comedy club Dangerfield’s, he launched the careers of Jerry Seinfeld, Jim Carrey, Roseanne Barr, Sam Kinison, and Tim Allen. He pioneered the internet for entertainers, launching the first celebrity website, rodney.com, in 1995. His trademark white shirt and red tie are on permanent display at the Smithsonian Institution. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His I get no respect catchphrase and late-blooming success prove age is no barrier to comedy.
The complete filmography of Rodney Dangerfield — every film, TV show, and documentary credit, ranked by popularity.
Every award, honor, and recognition received by Rodney Dangerfield — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
Rodney Dangerfield's bibliography — every authored, edited, and co-written book, ranked by edition count.
A wall of memorable lines from Rodney Dangerfield — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
I Don’t Get No Respect, No Respect at All!
It’s Lonely on the Top When There’s No One on the Bottom.
My Wife Was Afraid of the Dark, Saw Me Naked, Now She’s Afraid of the Light!
I Feel Sorry for Short People, You Know. When It Rains, They’re the Last to Know.
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.
My Wife and I Were Happy for 20 Years. Then We Met.
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.
My Dog Learned How to Beg by Watching Me Through the Bedroom Door.
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’.
Last Week My House Was on Fire. My Wife Told the Kids, ‘Be Quiet, You’ll Wake up Daddy’.
I Was Ugly, Very Ugly. When I Was Born, the Doctor Smacked My Mother.
My Mother Never Breast-fed Me. She Told Me She Liked Me Better as a Friend.
At My Age, Making Love Is Like Trying to Shoot Pool with a Rope.
When I Get in an Elevator, the Operator Takes One Look and Says, Basement?
Comedy Is a Camouflage for Depression.
I Found There Was Only One Way to Look Thin: Hang Out with Fat People.
I Drink Too Much. the Last Time I Gave a Urine Sample It Had an Olive in It.
My Psychiatrist Told Me I Was Crazy, and I Said I Wanted a Second Opinion. He Said, Okay, You’re Ugly, Too.
I Looked up My Family Tree and Found Three Dogs Using It.
I’m Taking Viagra and Drinking Prune Juice. I Don’t Know If I’m Coming or Going.
When I Was a Kid My Parents Moved a Lot, but I Always Found Them.
My Cousin’s Gay. He Went to London Only to Find Out That Big Ben Is a Clock.
I Could Tell My Parents Hated Me. My Bath Toys Were a Toaster and a Radio.
What a Kid I’ve Got. I Told Him About the Birds and the Bees, and He Told Me About the Butcher and My Wife.
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.
Little-known facts about Rodney Dangerfield — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
His tombstone carries the epitaph There goes the neighborhood.
He became the first entertainer to own a website, rodney.com, launching it in February 1995.
In his autobiography It Ain’t Easy Bein’ Me, he disclosed a $35,000 payment for Caddyshack 1980 that cost him over $100,000 in Las Vegas bookings.
His trademark white shirt and red tie are on permanent display at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC.
Despite playing belligerent losers on stage, he was sensitive and intelligent, resenting being confused with his comedic persona.
He went public about his lifelong depression in 1997.
Oliver Stone noted that Dangerfield struggled with Natural Born Killers 1994 during shooting, but his performance was later hailed as a highlight.
He based his I get no respect routine on The Godfather 1972 and an experience seeing an older gangster complain about disrespect.
One of Hollywood’s great late bloomers: nearly 60 when Caddyshack premiered in 1980.
On November 21, 2001, while appearing on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, he suffered a mild heart attack backstage.
Despite Oscar buzz for his dramatic role in Natural Born Killers, his application for Academy membership was rejected.
He made 70 appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.
Through his HBO shows from Dangerfield’s 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.
He opened the legendary Manhattan comedy club Dangerfield’s to remain near his children.
His final TV appearance aired on Still Neighbors on September 27, 2004, eight days before his death.
After quitting show business in 1949, he became a successful aluminum siding salesman and owned a home improvement business before returning to comedy in the early 1960s.
He was twice married to Joyce Indig 1949-62, 1963-70 and struggled with depression and low self-esteem; comedy was his escape.
After regaining consciousness from brain surgery, his first request was to watch The Jerry Springer Show.
Died at UCLA Medical Center from complications after heart valve replacement surgery on August 25, 2004; he briefly emerged from a coma before death. Buried at Westwood Village Memorial Park.
His wide eyes resulted from Graves disease.
His first big break was The Ed Sullivan Show, which he performed on 16 times.
As a teenager he performed as Jack Roy; after a nine-year hiatus, a club owner gave him the name Rodney Dangerfield, inspired by a character on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. Jack Roy remained his legal name.
On November 22, 2001, his 80th birthday, he suffered a mild heart attack.
On April 8, 2003, he underwent arterial brain surgery to improve blood flow before heart valve replacement.
He was chosen #36 out of the 50 funniest people by Entertainment Weekly.
One of few actors to play both God in Angels with Angles, 2005 and Lucifer in Little Nicky, 2000.
Awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Motion Pictures at 6366 Hollywood Blvd.
He was 30 years, 11 months, 3 weeks, and 2 days older than his last wife, Joan Dangerfield.
He had two children with his first wife Joyce Indig: Brian and Melanie.
He premiered Meet Wally Sparks 1997 in Daingerfield, Texas, where a street was named after him.
Hospitalized on August 24, 2004, for heart valve replacement surgery.
His autobiography It’s Not Easy Bein’ Me: A Lifetime of No Respect But Plenty of Sex and Drugs was published on May 25, 2004.
At his funeral in 2004, pallbearers included Harry Basil, Michael Bolton, Jim Carrey, his son Brian Roy, Bob Saget, Adam Sandler, and Rob Schneider.
He wrote two books: a joke book called No Respect and his autobiography It Ain’t Easy Bein’ Me.
Biography in Who’s Who in Comedy by Ronald L. Smith 1992 and The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives 2007.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Rodney Dangerfield.
Celebrities similar to Rodney Dangerfield — same craft, ranked by reach.
🇺🇸 United States
🇺🇸 United States
🇺🇸 United States
🇺🇸 United States
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
🇺🇸 United States
🇨🇴 Colombia
🇺🇸 United States
🇺🇸 United States
🇨🇦 Canada
🇺🇸 United States
🇺🇸 United States
