Rodney Dangerfield dies at 82

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US comic Rodney Dangerfield dies

BBC

Legendary US comedian Rodney Dangerfield has died at the age of 82, after spending several weeks in coma.
The performer died in Los Angeles on Tuesday after undergoing a heart valve replacement operation in August.

His publicist, Kevin Sasaki, said the comedian died at 2020 GMT (2120 BST) at the UCLA hospital.

Dangerfield, who famed for his self- deprecating one-liners and signature phrase “I can’t get no respect”, is survived by a wife and two children.

Sasaki said Dangerfield suffered a stroke following his surgery and “developed infectious and abdominal complications from which he did not recover”.

During the past week, the entertainer had emerged from the coma he had slipped into sometime after the operation, according to his wife, Joan.

“When Rodney emerged, he kissed me, squeezed my hand, and smiled for the doctors,” she said in a statement.

Flowers were placed on Dangerfield’s star on Hollywood Boulevard after word of his death and tributes were paid by fellow performers.

Teller, half of the magic duo Penn & Teller, said Dangerfield was “intrinsically funny”.

He added: “He was so confident. He was Rodney and he could do anything.”

Comedian and actor Adam Sandler, who starred with Dangerfield in the 2000 film Little Nicky, said: “When you saw him on TV or in the movies it was doubled when you had the pleasure to meet him. He was a hero who lived up to the hype.”

Dangerfield was born Jacob Cohen on 22 November 1921, on Long Island, New York, and grew up in Queens.

He turned to stand-up comedy at the age of 19, but gave up when he married his first wife Joyce Indig, with whom he had two children.

Dangerfield returned to comedy at the age of 42 and began to attract attention, appearing on the Ed Sullivan show seven times and was a regular on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson .

After his first major film role in Caddyshack he began starring in his more movies.

Later film roles included the coach of a girls’ soccer team in Ladybugs, an abusive father in Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers in 1994 and Little Nicky in 2000.

Dangerfield married his second wife, Joan Child, in 1993.

I sometimes found his humor to be weird, but I liked him anyway for some reason. May he rest in peace.

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I’d like to pay my respects.

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I imagine that’s going to get said a lot in the next couple of days. So fitting, too. :slight_smile:

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:sniffle:

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:sniffle: He got my respect.

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He was really scary playing out of character in Natural Born Killers.

Good Simpsons appearance too.

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Yeah, I think most people would agree he was One of a Kind, I saw a good interview on 60 minutes a few months ago, makes you want to go out and rent Chaddyshack!

Chris

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What I realized reading about him today is how we tend to view someone like him as he is when we find him - famous, rich, etc. Today I learned that his early life was pretty rough and he certainly wasn’t always rich and famous and successful. Rest in peace and thanks for a particular piece of comedy that was his alone.

Philo

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Letterman did a tribute to him last night. He just kept on belting out Rodney’s one liners… What better way to remember him…then laugh at his jokes.

“I was so ugly when I was born, the doctor slapped my mother.”

“When my parents divorced there was a custody battle, but on the court date, neither one of them showed up!”

Wish I could remember more…haven’t have enough coffee yet. If others can remember more…submit!!

RIP Rodney…You always brought a smile to my face!

Nancy

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I’ll try to remember some of these, from a tribute on the radio yesterday.

“I always have bad luck when I go out to bars. I saw one with a sign that said, ‘Topless and Bottomless.’ I thought, That sounds like a winner. I went inside, there was no one there!”

“Then I went in a bar and found out it was a gay bar. There were 15 guys for every guy. They asked for proof of gender. I showed them and they said, ‘You’ll have to give us more proof than that.’”

“Kids are a lot of work. I never get any respect from my kids, you know? My son goes to a private school. For three years now, he goes to this private school. He won’t tell me where it is.”

“I had a shock the other day. I found a wallet some guy lost. I looked inside and there were pictures of my kids.”

“My son’s been giving me a hard time. I said, ‘You’ll find out. Someday you’ll have kids of you’re own.’ He says to me, ‘Maybe someday you will, too.’”

“I get no respect from my wife. Even before we were married, I got no respect. I said to her, ‘Come on, Honey. Let’s elope.’ She says, ‘You go.’ I said, ‘What is it, Honey? Is there someone else?’ She says, ‘There MUST be someone else.’”

Best wishes,
Jerry

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A couple more…

“One night my girlfriend called me and said, Come on over…no one’s home!” I went over to her house and no one was home."

“Someone knocked on our door and my wife told me to hide in the closet!”

Jerry..you have one awesome memory!!! Thanks for all the one-liners!

Nancy

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Some others-

One day I came home early from work and I saw a guy jogging naked. I said to him- hey buddy, what are you doing that for? He says- because you came home early.

I went to the doctor because I swallowed an entire bottle of sleeping pills. My doctor told me to go home, have a couple of drinks and get some rest.

I’m so ugly I worked in a pet shop, and people kept asking me how big I’d get.

One time I was kidnapped and they sent a piece of my finger to my father. My father said he wanted more proof.

I went to the doctor and told him that every morning I get up, I look in the mirror and I want to throw up, and then I asked him what was wrong with me. He said- I don’t know, but your eyesight is perfect.

All the Best,

Tom