Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Legendary comic Dangerfield dies

Rodney Dangerfield, whose one-liners about his lack of respect brought him fame as a Las Vegas headliner, television performer, nightclub mainstay and movie actor, died Tuesday in Los Angeles. He was 82.

He performed for more than 30 years in Las Vegas showrooms. In the 1990s and early this decade, Dangerfield maintained a residence at the Regency Towers.

His trademark stage outfit was a simple black suit, thin red tie and white shirt with a collar that appeared uncomfortably tight. In what became a signature gesture, Dangerfield would tug on that collar between jokes as a sign of mock anxiety. One of his suits and a tie are enshrined in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.

Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, Dangerfield played the Tropicana's Blue Room, honing his neurotic stage persona. He played Casears in the 1980s, but an accident backstage -- a pipe burst in a steam bath burning him -- resulted in a nasty lawsuit. A jury awarded him $725,000.

After his relationship with Caesars soured, Dangerfield headlined at Bally's for several years before moving to the MGM Grand in the 1990s and early 2000s.

He opened his New York comedy club Dangerfield's in 1969. Las Vegas entertainer Pete Barbutti worked there and remembered his longtime friend as a man who, despite being adored by millions, preferred to be alone.

"He didn't hang out," said Barbutti.

When he wasn't performing, Dangerfield often stayed in his room, Barbutti said, noting, "He was polite, was always a gentleman, but he was private; a quiet man when he wasn't on stage.

"He also was at the right place at the right time -- his look, his demeanor, it all fell together."

Las Vegas comedian Sandy Hackett, son of late comedian Buddy Hackett, recalled how Dangerfield could make life's simple, sometimes awkward moments a sterling comedic memory.

Hackett said he was weighing himself on scales in the locker room at the Sporting House athletic club when he felt someone come up behind him.

"It was Rodney, wearing no clothes," Hackett said. "He put his hand up as if to loosen his tie and asked, 'When are you going to get through with that?"'

Dangerfield, who in the 1980s became a popular actor in the hit movies "Caddyshack" and "Back To School," had been plagued by health problems in recent years.

He underwent heart valve replacement surgery on Aug. 25 at the UCLA Medical Center, and was in a coma after the operation, suffering a stroke and other complications, his publicist Kevin Sasaki said.

Dangerfield underwent brain surgery in April 2003 to relieve blockage in the right carotid artery in his neck that had reduced blood flow to his brain.

In June 2003 Dangerfield announced he would not perform at the MGM Grand Garden Arena the next month as planned. He said he needed more more time to rest after the brain surgery.

In March 2000 Dangerfield was admitted to Sunrise Hospital for unknown reasons a day after he wrapped up a six-night performance at the MGM. That year he underwent double-bypass heart surgery.

Before the most recent surgery Dangerfield taped appearances for upcoming television shows. He appeared in the Sept. 27 episode of the CBS sitcom "Still Standing."

In 2001 Dangerfield told the Sun that as a struggling comedian he quit show business at age 29 to become a siding salesman. He returned 12 years later in 1963 and, over the course of the rest of his life, became one of the most recognizable names in show business.

"To give you an idea of how well I was doing at the time I quit, I was the only one who knew I quit," Dangerfield said, noting he went back into show business after he was $20,000 in debt. "It was tough going back into show business, but it's something I wanted to do."

Dangerfield said his "no respect" catch phrase was inspired by the film "The Godfather," where "everything was respect, respect, respect. So I said I'll try a joke. I said, 'I don't get no respect. I played hide and seek and they won't even look for me.' ... People identified with it."

He also talked briefly of the many comedians whose careers he boosted by allowing them to work at Dangerfield's nightclub when they were young and struggling, or by putting them on television specials that he hosted.

Among them were Las Vegas favorite Rita Rudner, Jerry Seinfeld, Jim Carrey, Andrew Dice Clay, Roseanne, Robert Townsend and the late Sam Kinison and Andy Kaufman.

"If I meet a guy who I think has got it, I'll give him a break and try to help," Dangerfield said.

Dangerfield was born Jacob Cohen on Nov. 22, 1921, in Babylon, New York.

As a young comic, he hung around Hanson's Drug Store in midtown Manhattan with a group of hopefuls that included Lenny Bruce. Dangerfield's original stage name was Jack Roy. His father was a vaudevillian pantomimist known professionally as Phil Roy.

For his show business comeback, he took the name Rodney Dangerfield to distance himself from his failed early career.

Dangerfield made seven appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show and more than 70 appearances on "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson.

In 1980 Dangerfield won a Grammy for the best comedy recording, "No Respect." In 1994 he won the American Comedy Award for lifetime achievement.

Dangerfield made 21 films, starting in 1970 as a mean theater manager in "The Projectionist."

But Dangerfield is perhaps best remembered as the rude and crude but lovable housing developer Al Cervic who angered and befuddled snooty country club types in the 1980 golf comedy classic "Caddyshack."

Dangerfield portrayed big and tall clothing tycoon Thornton Melon, who went to college with his son in "Back to School" (1986). He provided the voice for an animated dog in the title role of "Rover Dangerfield" (1991).

Dangerfield's other films included "Benny and Barney: Las Vegas Undercover" (1977), "Natural Born Killers" (1994) and his final film "Angels with Angles," released this year.

Last year International Game Technology announced plans to introduce the "Rodney Dangerfield's Reel Respect" slot machine.

Dangerfield is survived by his wife, the former Joan Child, whom he married on Dec. 26, 1993; a son, Brian Dangerfield; and a daughter, Melanie Dangerfield. He was preceded in death by his first wife, singer Joyce Indig, the mother of his two children.

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