DANGERFIELD, RODNEY

DANGERFIELD, RODNEY (1921–2004), U.S. comedian. Born Jacob Cohen in Long Island, N.Y., Dangerfield was best known for his catchphrase, "I don't get no respect," and his self-deprecating routines which featured him sweating and fidgeting with his necktie. Dangerfield first started writing jokes at 15 and was performing at amateur nights by 17. In 1941, when he was not working as a singing waiter, he was performing as a stand-up comedian in nightclubs under the name Jack Roy. He married singer Joyce Indig in 1950 and one year later decided to quit the comedy circuit to get a steady job selling aluminum siding in New Jersey. "I dropped out of show business, but nobody noticed," he remarked. After the couple divorced in 1961, Dangerfield went back to stand-up, working a day job in an office and performing in clubs at night. Dangerfield eventually auditioned for television host Ed Sullivan, who immediately signed him to his program. He made 16 appearances on Sullivan's variety show and more than 60 appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. He opened the comedy club Dangerfield's in Manhattan in 1969, and spent more than 20 years as a Las Vegas headliner. The 1970s found Dangerfield releasing books, I Couldn't Stand My Wife's Cooking So I Opened a Restaurant (1972) and I Don't Get No Respect (1973), and a variety of comedy albums. In 1978, he was selected as commencement speaker for Harvard University. His screen debut came with The Projectionist (1971), but it was his role as real estate developer Al Czervik in Caddyshack (1980) that launched his film career and which he followed with such features as Easy Money (1983), Back to School (1986), Rover Dangerfield (1991), Ladybugs (1992), Natural Born Killers (1994), Meet Wally Sparks (1997), and the Adam Sandler film Little Nicky (2000). Dangerfield won a Grammy Award in 1981 for his comedy album No Respect, a lifetime achievement award during the American Comedy Awards in 1994, and Comedy Central's first Comedy Idol award in 2003. In 2004, he released an album of love songs, Romeo Rodney, and published his autobiography, It's Not Easy Bein' Me. He died in Los Angeles from heart surgery complications. (Adam Wills (2nd ed.)