Rodney Dangerfield

Rodney Dangerfield

Rodney Dangerfield (November 22, 1921 – October 5, 2004), born Jacob Cohen, was one of the greatest modern day American comedians and actors.

Quotes

• I told my psychiatrist that everyone hates me. He said I was being ridiculous, everyone hasn't met me yet.
  • Quoted in Bob Fenster, Laugh Off: The Comedy Showdown Between Real Life and the Pros (2005), p. 37

• There goes the neighborhood.
  • Epitaph, quoted in Patricia Brooks, Laid to Rest in California (2006), p. 20

• If all goes well, about a week. If not, about an hour and a half.
  • His last words quoted in Rosemarie Jarski, ed., Funniest Thing You Never Said 2 (2010). p. 501

It's Not Easy Bein' Me: A Lifetime of No Respect But Plenty of Sex and Drugs (2004)

• I was an ugly kid. When I was born, after the doctor cut the cord, he hung himself.
  • p. 4

• In my life I've been through plenty. when I was three years old, my parents got a dog. I was jealous of the dog, so they got rid of me.
  • p. 6

• What a childhood I had. Once on my birthday my ol' man gave me a bat. The first day I played with it, it flew away.
  • p. 7

• I told my doctor I broke my arm in two places. He told me to keep out of those places.
  • p. 8

• When I was a kid, I never went to Disneyland. My ol' man told me Mickey Mouse died in a cancer experiment.
  • p. 9

• When I was a kid I got no respect. When my parents got divorced there was a custody fight over me... and no one showed up.
  • p. 10

• I like to date schoolteachers. If you do something wrong, they make you do it over again.
  • p. 12

• My old man never liked me. He gave me my allowance in traveler's checks.
  • p. 13

• I live in a tough neighborhood. They got a children's zoo. Last week, four kids escaped.
  • p. 14

• A homeless guy came up to me on the street, said he hadn't eaten in four days. I told him, "Man, I wish I had your willpower."
  • p. 15

• I tell ya, I grew up in a tough neighborhood. The other night a guy pulled a knife on me. I could see it wasn't a real professional job. There was butter on it.
  • p. 16

• I was an ugly kid. I worked in a pet store. People kept asking how big I get.
  • p. 17

• I tell ya, my wife's a lousy cook. After dinner, I don't brush my teeth. I count them.
  • p. 18

• What a childhood I had. My mother never breast-fed me. She said she liked me as a friend.
  • p. 19

• I tell ya, my family were always big drinkers. When I was a kid, I was missing. They put my picture on a bottle of Scotch.
  • p. 21

• I tell ya, my wife likes to talk during sex. Last night, she called me from a motel.
  • p. 59

• When I got back into show business in 1961, I felt — for obvious reasons — that nothing in my life went right, and I realized that millions of people felt the same way. So when I first came back my catch phrase was "nothing goes right." Early on, that was my setup for a lot of jokes.
  • p. 126.

• Why, that's the story of my life--no respect; I mean, I don't get no respect at all!
  • p. 127

Misattributed

Because Dangerfield's signature style is to be self-demeaning, many jokes of this type by other comedians are wrongly attributed to Dangerfield.

• I was so ugly... When I was born, the doctor slapped my mother!
  • Actually originated with Henny Youngman..

External links

• The Official Rodney Dangerfield Site.
• Interview with Sam Esmail on esmail.com.
• Rodney Dangerfield at IMDb.
• Interview with Rolling Stone Magazine