Rodney Dangerfield was born in Babylon New York in 1921. His birth name was Jacob Cohen. Jacob Cohen began writing jokes at the age of 15, and started performing before he was 20. He took his act to the road for ten years, his stage name was Jack Roy. While working as a struggling comedian Rodney Dangerfield worked as a singing waiter. His first run at comedy was to no avail. Rodney Dangerfield married Joyce Indig, in 1949 and had two children: Brian and Melanie. During the 1950s Rodney was an aluminum siding salesman, living in New Jersey. The comedian made another attempt at stand up comedy, this time as Rodney Dangerfield. In 1961 Rodney divorced from his wife. When he appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show" (The Ed Sullivan Show), Rodney Dangerfield made Ed Sullivan laugh. Few people ever provoked any kind of reaction out of the legendary Ed Sullivan. Dangerfield had the image of a lovable disgruntled everyman type that became a hit all across nightclubs in the 1960s. Dangerfield also made many appearances on the The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and The Dean Martin Comedy Hour in the 1970s. Rodney Dangerfield snatched a minor supporting part in the movie The Projectionist, in 1971. By the mid 1970s he had cemented his image as a comedian constantly tugging at his red tie, always proclaiming he gets no respect. His big break came with many appearances on SNL 25, bringing himself to a much wider audience and proving hysterical on many occasions. In 1980, Dangerfield became a cornerstone of American comedy with the classic Caddyshack. Here, he played Al Czervik, a rich golfer who was a basically nice guy that was extremely outspoken and very obnoxious. His character was often unhappy with the rich snobbery he was around, and he takes on the rich people that are so snobby to him. The average guy that his character portrayed was an instant hit, and a formula that Dangerfield often stuck with. Also in 1980 Rodney came out with a popular comedy album, 'Rappin Rodney'. The album earned Dangerfield a Grammy for best comedy album. The next movie on Rodney's agenda was Easy Money, a comedy that showed him as an insulting working class person that suddenly becomes a millionaire. The movie was also a big hit. Dangerfield became very sparse in his roles on TV and film about this time. The year 1986 saw the comedy Back to School, his biggest film to date. The comedy was one of the first to gross over 100 million. In 1994 Dangerfield starred in his first dramatic role in the successful Oliver Stone film, Natural Born Killers. He played an abusive father that drove one of the killers crazy. His part was critically acclaimed. In 1995 Dangerfield entered the world of cyberspace, becoming the first entertainer to have a website on the world wide web. In 1997 he starred in Meet Wally Sparks, a political and talk show satire that was poorly received. In 2000, Dangerfield starred as the Devil in Little Nicky. The movie was potentially a huge hit, but was a failure by most accounts. Dangerfield took a very small part, but was top billed in the direct to video The Godson, and starred in the direct to video My 5 Wives. But it has not been all smooth sailing for this comedian. In 1997 he admitted to a lifelong bout with depression, and on his 80th birthday had a mild heart attack. He has major fans from all kinds of people from all different backgrounds. Dangerfield had made a record 70 appearances on the The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and had discovered many struggling comedians, including Jerry Seinfeld, Jim Carrey, Roseanne, Robert Townsend, Sam Kinison and Tim Allen. The comedian owned a legendary nightclub in Manhattan called Dangerfield's. In the 1990s he made highly publicized appearances on The Simpsons, In Living Color, Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist, Home Improvement, Suddenly Susan, among others. In 1993 he married Joan Child, a woman thirty years younger than him, and is a Mormon. He died on October 5, 2004 after falling into a coma following heart surgery.
Caddyshack (1980): $35,000

Became outspoken about his bouts with lifelong depression in 1997. Made 70 appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Chosen #36 out of the 50 funniest people by Entertainment Weekly. Premiered Meet Wally Sparks in the small town of Daingerfield, Texas. A street there was then named after him. 22 November 2001: Suffered what is being called a "mild" heart attack on his 80th birthday. Was the first entertainer to own a Website (www.rodney.com) which was launched in February 1995. His trademark white shirt and red tie are on permanent display at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. His first big break was "The Ed Sullivan Show" (The Ed Sullivan Show) which he did 16 times. Through his HBO shows from Dangerfield's, he introduced Jim Carrey, Roseanne, Louie Anderson, Jerry Seinfeld, Tim Allen, Rita Rudner, Sam Kinison, Robert Townsend, Bob Saget, and Jeff Foxworthy to TV. Wanting to remain near his children, he opened the now-legendary Manhattan comedy club that bears his name. Won a Grammy in 1980 for Best Comedy Recording for, 'No Respect'. 30 years, 11 months, 3 weeks and 2 days older than his current wife, Joan, who is a Mormon. He had two children by his first wife Joyce Indig: Brian and Melanie. 8 April 2003: Rodney had brain surgery to improve his body's blood flow in preparation for upcoming heart-valve replacement surgery. After regaining consciousness from his brain surgery, his first request was to watch The Jerry Springer Show. Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith. Pg. 130-132. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387 Hit #89 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in 1983 with the song 'Rappin Rodney' Published a biography in May 2004 entitled "It Ain't Easy Being Me". In it, he reveals that he was paid $35,000 to star in Caddyshack, but in doing the movie, he lost $150,000 in would-be performances in Las Vegas. Was hospitalized 24 August 2004 for heart valve-replacement surgery. One of the great late bloomers of Hollywood. He was already near 60 when his first big movie, Caddyshack, premiered in 1980. Based his famous "I get no respect" on The Godfather, since he figured that "Vito Corleone" had respect. He also based it on an experience he had at a nightclub. One night, he saw an older, low level gangster complaining about how young people gave him "no respect, no respect at all" and Dangerfield never forgot it. As a teenager, he started in stand-up comedy and changed his name to "Jack Roy". After nine years, he quit show business. When he returned in 1962, he wanted to change his name to distance himself from his previous failure. A club owner gave him the name of "Rodney Dangerfield" after Ricky Nelson used the name in an episode of _"Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet" (1952)_ . But "Jack Roy" remained his legal name for the rest of his life. Although there was Hollywood talk that his dramatic performance in Natural Born Killers was worthy of a supporting actor Oscar nomination, Dangerfield's application for membership in the Academy was rejected. Twice married to Joyce Indig (1949-1962, 1963-1970), Rodney suffered a lifelong battle with depression and chronic lack of self-esteem. Comedy, he says, was his fix to escape reality. Buried at the beautiful and prestigious Westwood Village Memorial Park, Los Angeles, California. His final appearance on a TV show was on an episode of the sitcom Still Standing, the episode in which he appeared entitled "Still Neighbors" aired on September 27, 2004, only eight days before his death. His 2004 autobiography, "It's Not Easy Bein' Me: A Lifetime of No Respect but Plenty of Sex and Drugs," was released posthumously.