History Creator / RodneyDangerfield

* CatchPhrase: "I don’t get no respect!"

* DontExplainTheJoke:
-->"A friend of mine saw a sign that said 'Drink Canada Dry.' So he did."

* HiddenDepths: His first showbiz job was as a singing waiter and he developed a decent singing voice as a result.
** His second wife, Joan Child, also claimed that he was GoodWithNumbers and could perform complex mathematical equations in his head at a rapid clip.
* IAmNotSpock: It slight annoyed him and his wife that people thought he was really like the schlub he portrayed in his act. In reality Rodney was quiet, polite, and very sharp.
* IconicOutfit: When performing stand up, he usually wore a suit with a white shirt and an always-too-tight red necktie, which he was always pulling at. One of those suits is now part of the Smithsonian Museum's permanent collection.

* {{Corpsing)): While Dangerfield didn't do this himself, he was famous for getting ''others'' to crack up. Creator/JohnnyCarson was a frequent victim of this, as Dangerfield was a popular guest on ''The Tonight Show''; in one instance, Carson had to call for a commercial break because he was laughing too hard at Rodney's jokes to continue the episode.

** His wife also claimed that he was GoodWithNumbers and could perform complex mathematical equations in his head at a rapid clip.

** Offstage, he was famous for wearing bathrobes--often with nothing underneath. Roseanne Barr once reminisced about her first encounter with Dangerfield in Las Vegas, saying that he went down to the casino floor and gambled for a while in one of his trademark robes.
* TheMentor: Dangerfield knew full well the difficulties of breaking into the business, and so made it a point to offer help and support to younger comedians whenever he could. Among his students were Creator/JerrySeinfeld, Creator/TimAllen, Creator/SamKinison (who has a memorable role in ''Film/BackToSchool''), and Creator/{{Roseanne}}. The latter is probably his best-known case--Roseanne had her big break playing Dangerfield's wife in one of his HBO comedy specials, and later wrote a touching eulogy for him when he died.

* IconicOutfit: When performing stand up, he usually wore a suit with a white shirt and an always-too-tight red necktie, which he was always pulling at.

* BornUnderABadSign: "I was born under 'For Rent.'"

* IAmSpock: It slight annoyed him and his wife that people thought he was really like the schlub he portrayed in his act. In reality Rodney was quiet, polite, and very sharp.

* TakeThat: His acts where loaded with jokes that ran on this idea.

->''"I tell ya, when I was a kid I had it rough.''\\
''Once on my birthday, my old man gave me a bat.''\\
''The first day I played with it, it flew away".''

-->My whole life is pressure. This pressure is like a heaviness. Always on top of me, this heaviness, since I'm a kid. Other people wake up in the morning, ‘Ah, a new day! Up and at ’em!’ I wake up, the heaviness is right there waiting for me nice. Sometimes I even talk to it. I say ‘Hi, heaviness!’ and the heaviness looks back at me, ‘Today you’re gonna get it good, you know. You’ll be drinking early today.’
* SelfDeprecation: He was the patron saint of this trope, he made a career off of the idea.

* TooDumbToLive: “I tried marijuana once. Just once. I didn't know what I was doing...I was on cocaine.”

Dangerfield was born Jacob Rodney Cohen in Babylon, New York on November 22, 1921 to Hungarian Jewish parents. In the early 1940s, he began performing standup under the name of “Jack Roy.” However, he wasn’t very successful and he ended up quitting. He later joked about this by saying [[SelfDeprecation “At the time I quit, I was the only one who knew I quit!"]]

* {{Film/The 4th Tenor}} (2002) (also writer) - Lupo
* {{Film/Back by Midnight}} (2004) (also writer) - Jake Puloski

Dangerfield’s career peak was in the 1970s and '80s. During this time, he made numerous appearances on ''Series/TheTonightShow'' with Johnny Carson and ''The Dean Martin Show'', and starred in several successful films such as ''Film/{{Caddyshack}}'', ''Film/EasyMoney'' and ''Film/BackToSchool''. He also released a few successful comedy albums, such as “I Don’t Get No Respect” “Rappin’ Rodney”, and “No Respect” the latter which won a UsefulNotes/GrammyAward. In 1969, he built a nightclub in New York City, which he would be the venue for several Creator/{{HBO}} specials, which would showcase talents like Creator/JimCarrey, Creator/JerrySeinfeld, Creator/AndrewDiceClay, and Creator/SamKinison.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: His first few albums had longer routines with liner themes that would go on for several minutes. One-liners wouldnt become his norm until the 80s.
* FamousLastWords: Upon heading into a heart surgery that he ended up not surviving after some time in a coma: "If everything goes well, I'll be out in a couple months. If not, a couple minutes."
* FunnyCharacterBoringActor: His wife was always somewhat annoyed that people assumed her husband was a wacky, boorish slob all the time. In real life, he was a shy, well-mannered gentleman.

--> "A Jewish man screws in a lightbulb, it's like he build a ''bridge''!"

* UnpopularPopularCharacter: His characters in the movies that he appeared in tend not to be well liked by other characters, but they are extremely popular in the real world. The most notable example being his character of Al Czervik from {{Film/Caddyshack}}.

Dangerfield continued to perform both on stage and in movies through the 1990’s and the early 2000’s. He died on October 5, 2004 from complications of heart value replacement surgery he had undergone the previous August, he was 82 years old. Behind him, Dangerfield left quite a legacy.

Dangerfield was born Jacob Rodney Cohen in Babylon, New York on November 22, 1921 to Hungarian Jewish parents. In the early 1940’s, he began performing standup under the name of “Jack Roy.” However, he wasn’t very successful and he ended up quitting. He later joked about this by saying [[SelfDeprecation “At the time I quit, I was the only one who knew I quit!"]]

Dangerfield’s career peak was in the 1970’s and 1980’s. During this time, he made numerous appearances on ''Series/TheTonightShow'' with Johnny Carson and The Dean Martin Show, and starred in several successful films, such as ''Film/{{Caddyshack}}'', ''Film/EasyMoney'' and ''Film/BackToSchool''. He also released a few successful comedy albums, such as “I Don’t Get No Respect” “Rappin’ Rodney”, and “No Respect” the latter which won a UsefulNotes/GrammyAward. In 1969, he built a nightclub in New York City, which he would be the venue for several Creator/{{HBO}} specials, which would showcase talents like Creator/JimCarrey, Creator/JerrySeinfeld, Creator/AndrewDiceClay, and Creator/SamKinison.

Rodney Dangerfield (Jacob Rodney Cohen, November 22, 1921 – October 5, 2004) was an American stand-up comedian and actor, known for his [[CatchPhrase catchphrase]] “I don’t get no respect!” and his monologues on that theme.

* NoRespectGuy: Dangerfield's primary comedy schtick was that he got no respect.

Dangerfield’s career peak was in the 1970’s and 1980’s. During this time, he made numerous appearances on ''Series/TheTonightShow'' with Johnny Carson and The Dean Martin Show, and starred in several successful films, such as ''Film/{{Caddyshack}}'', ''Film/EasyMoney'' and ''Film/BackToSchool''. He also released a few successful comedy albums, such as “I Don’t Get No Respect” “Rappin’ Rodney”, and “No Respect” the latter which won a GrammyAward. In 1969, he built a nightclub in New York City, which he would be the venue for several Creator/{{HBO}} specials, which would showcase talents like Creator/JimCarrey, Creator/JerrySeinfeld, Creator/AndrewDiceClay, and Creator/SamKinison.

* ''WesternAnimation/RoverDangerfield'' (1991) (also writer and producer) - Rover Dangerfield