He didn't get no respect.

October 5, 2004 6:15 PM

...Let's finally give him some respect. Rodney Dangerfield dead at 82. This has not been a good year for celebrities longevity, has it?
posted by WolfDaddy (34 comments total)

Fittingly, his site's joke of the day:

I tell ya I get no respect from anyone. I bought a cemetary plot. The guy said, "There goes the neighborhood!"
posted by WolfDaddy at 6:18 PM on October 5, 2004

And these always come in threes. Janet Leigh, Rod..who is next? Will God finish off the Ramones?
posted by glenwood at 6:34 PM on October 5, 2004

This has not been a good year for celebrities longevity, has it?

John Kerry has a plan to eliminate celebrity deaths by 2010.
With Bush, it's more of the same.
posted by PrinceValium at 6:37 PM on October 5, 2004

He's been at death's door--or at least in death's driveway--for quite a while.
posted by Sidhedevil at 6:55 PM on October 5, 2004

Man, I feel crummy. What a loss. And precious few people on the comedy horizon understand that fart-jokes and Adam-Sandler-squeaky-voices don't pass for genuine wit. The future is so bleak ... we coulda used another decade of Rodney.
posted by RavinDave at 6:57 PM on October 5, 2004

One of my Dangerfield faves:

When I was born, the doctor came into the waiting room and said to my father, "I'm sorry. We did everything we could, but he pulled through anyway."
posted by bwg at 7:02 PM on October 5, 2004

.
posted by Keyser Soze at 7:09 PM on October 5, 2004

.
posted by kamylyon at 7:12 PM on October 5, 2004

No fair.
posted by tirade at 7:22 PM on October 5, 2004

I think he was at his best when he let you have just a tiny glimpse through the schtick -- there are little moments of this in most of his movies. Just being funny is ... well, I know it's not easy. But that ability to drop the mask just enough to make you human, really human, is rare, and I'm not sure it can be taught (though maybe learned). Candy had it. Adam Sandler has it.

Rodney had it.

On preview: "Not Fair"? He'd probably laugh at that. And follow up with a few good lines.
posted by lodurr at 7:26 PM on October 5, 2004

There were a few years in the 1980's where Rodney couldn't open his mouth without making my groups of friends roar with laughter. One of the funniest people ever.

.
posted by Joey Michaels at 7:27 PM on October 5, 2004

also from rodney.com

When asked how long he will be in the hospital after the operation, Dangerfield quipped, "If things go right, I'll be there about a week, and if things don't go right, I'll be there about an hour and a half!"
posted by fatbaq at 8:16 PM on October 5, 2004

.

he was great.
posted by amberglow at 8:22 PM on October 5, 2004

This summer I heard a bittersweet interview with him on "Fresh Air," in which he talked about his bleak childhood -- apparently neither of his parents cared too much about him, though he admired his deadbeat vaudeville dad enough that when Rodney first got into showbiz, he took his dad's stage last name as his own. ("Rodney Dangerfield" came much later.) It helped put his self-putdown schtick into better perspective.

It's archived here.
posted by lisa g at 8:24 PM on October 5, 2004

This is a bummer, I liked him alot. He was a hack who knew he was a hack who also knew he was funny.
posted by fenriq at 8:40 PM on October 5, 2004

Wanna make 14 dollars the hard way?
posted by dong_resin at 8:43 PM on October 5, 2004

.

"Well, you buy a hat like this, I bet you get a free bowl of soup, huh?"
posted by yhbc at 8:44 PM on October 5, 2004

"Maybe I could come over sometime and you could help me straighten out my Longfellow..." —RD


*sheds tear*
posted by dhoyt at 9:01 PM on October 5, 2004

*sniff*

If it weren't for pickpockets, I'd have no sex life at all. - RD
posted by dejah420 at 9:12 PM on October 5, 2004

My favorite is from "Back to School":

JASON: You got a major paper coming up on Kurt Vonnegut and you haven't read any of the books.

THORNTON (Dangerfield): I tried, I don't understand a word of it

JASON: So how are you gonna write the paper then, huh?

KURT VONNEGUT: Hi, I'm Kurt Vonnegut.
posted by GaelFC at 9:46 PM on October 5, 2004

Mine: "I was at a bar. Bartender asked me to leave so they could start 'Happy Hour'."
posted by RavinDave at 10:43 PM on October 5, 2004

"Back to School" is hilarious. I laughed myself silly in the theatre. Too many great lines to recount.

Rodney will be missed.
posted by pmurray63 at 10:43 PM on October 5, 2004

He was one of the all-time greats...
posted by cell divide at 10:48 PM on October 5, 2004

.
posted by The God Complex at 11:07 PM on October 5, 2004

... and later in "Back to School", the exasperated English professor tells Thornton/Dangerfied, "Whoever wrote your paper for you obviously knows nothing about Kurt Vonnegut."
posted by orange swan at 9:31 AM on October 6, 2004

... my favorite line, I don't know why, from "Back to School," was: "Why don't you call me sometime ... when you have no class."

*sniffle*
posted by WolfDaddy at 9:36 AM on October 6, 2004

As in Caddyshack, I believe we should let Rodney have the last word:

Hey everybody! We're all gonna get laid!

RIP.
posted by tommasz at 10:05 AM on October 6, 2004

...my favorite in Back To School was when he was trying to stay over late with Sally Kellerman:

"I'll do my work. I'll do your work. I'll do your nails. You have no idea what I wanna do!"

Of the great old school standups, I guess we have only Don Rickles left.

Too bad Dr. Vinnie Boombatz couldn't save him. Sayanora, rodney.
posted by jonmc at 10:11 AM on October 6, 2004

His dancing in Caddyshack just plain rules.

*turns up Any Way You Want It*
posted by petebest at 10:38 AM on October 6, 2004

He made me laugh. A lot. Great talent. I'm thankful he distantly resided in the sensoral periphery of my existence. I'm also glad to learn he is no longer suffering.

Thank you sir. I pay my respects.

.
posted by ZachsMind at 11:06 AM on October 6, 2004

One of my favs: "I'm so ugly, I went to the proctologist and he stuck his finger in my mouth!"

Eternal respect, Rodney.
posted by eperker at 11:10 AM on October 6, 2004

.
posted by Fezboy! at 11:15 AM on October 6, 2004

his small cameo in NBK was utter genius. and Back To School is surprisingly funny
posted by matteo at 11:23 AM on October 6, 2004

I'm goin' to the neighborhood pool tonite and perform a Triple Lindy in his honor.
posted by chandy72 at 12:19 PM on October 6, 2004