"Respect at last" for Kew Gardens Movie Star

 Rodney Dangerfield attended and graduated from Richmond Hill H.S. in 1939 and lived in Kew Gardens on Austin St. and Lefferts Blvd. above the Old Bailey's Bar now the Austin Ale House which at one time was part of Richmond Hill.

Rodney "No Respect" Dangerfield began his career at the age of 15 when he started writing jokes. At 17 he started performing at amateur nights and at 19 he had two jobs, one as a comic who couldn't make a living, and the other as a singing waiter. Rodney would sing and people threw money at him. :-) 

He traveled the comedy circuit for ten years but reluctantly gave up showbiz for a more stable income. It wasn't until the age of 40 that Dangerfield made the decision to relaunch his career as a performer and comedy writer for the second time. He spent his days in a business office and his nights working in New York clubs. Not satisfied, Rodney opened his own club, the now famous Dangerfield's on First Avenue in Manhattan. The club was a huge success and so was Rodney. Even Richmond Hill H.S. Senior Proms were celebrated at his club. 
Rodney introduced many of today's comedy stars to television for the first time on his HBO shows which emanated from Dangerfield's, such as Tim Allen, Roseanne Barr, Jim Carrey, Jeff Foxworthy, Sam 
Kinison, Bob Saget, Jerry Seinfeld, Rita Rudner, Robert Townsend, Louie Anderson and others. 

Rodney Dangerfield's feature film credits include CADDYSHACK, EASY MONEY which he co-wrote, BACK TO SCHOOL (one of the first comedys to gross over $100 million), and Paramount's LADYBUGS. In contrast to his comedy roles, Rodney accepted a dramatic role offered to him by Oliver Stone for NATURAL BORN KILLERS. Critics praised his realistic portrayal as the "Father From Hell." 

Here's a list of the movies he was in:

  • The Projectionist (1970)
  • Caddyshack (1980)
  • Easy Money (1983)
  • Back To School (1986)
  • Ladybugs (1992)
  • Natural Born Killers (1994)
  • Meet Wally Sparks (1997)
  • The Godson (1998)
  • My 5 Wives (2000)
  • The 4th Tenor (2002)
  • Back By Midnight (2002)

Dangerfield also produced the animated feature musical ROVER DANGERFIELD for Warner Bros. Rodney not only provided the voice for Rover, but he also wrote the screenplay, co-composed the songs and served as Executive Producer. 

Dangerfield stars and co-wrote his latest film MEET WALLY SPARKS, a comedy released earlier in 1998 featuring Cindy Williams, Burt Reynolds, David Ogden Stiers, Michael Bolton, Tony Danza and others. 

Dangerfield's contributions to the world of comedy have not been overlooked. In 1981, Dangerfield won a Grammy Award for his comedy album named No Respect and was the recipient of the Lifetime Creative Achievement Award from the 1994 American Comedy Awards. Rodney's famous trademark white shirt and red tie are on permanent display at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. Aaahhh....respect at last! 

Besides being a Las Vegas headliner for over 20 years, Dangerfield has also made countless appearances on talk and television variety shows. 

His first big break was The Ed Sullivan Show which he did 16 times. Rodney also appeared on This Is Your Life, What's My Line, The Dean Martin Show, Saturday Night Live, and a record 70 times on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Recently, Rodney has appeared on Mad T.V., Suddenly  Susan, LateNight with Conan O' Brien, The Single Guy and the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. 

Born on November 22, 1921-  
Died October 5, 2004

Real Name Jacob Cohen 

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4 Comments on "Respect at last" for Kew Gardens Movie Star

Didn't know he was a local boy.

11/03/2007 09:28 PM by Gail Gladstone (Coldwell Banker)


Gail- He sure was. I've compiled a list of "locals" that have gone on to do great things. Rodney was one of them. The Marx brothers (wrote a blog on them last month) were also locals. There are a few more I will post in the coming weeks.

11/03/2007 09:34 PM by Vincent Martinez (Prudential Network of Homes)


Vincent, we all loved Rodney.  We could relate to him. There's always someone shortchanging us on the R-E-S-P-E-C-T. 

I'm going to look out for your posts on other Queens celebrities.  Did you do Kevin Dobson yet?  Raised in my hometown! 

11/05/2007 04:31 AM by Palmetto Bay | Redland Real Estate | Maggie Dokic (EWM Realtors)


Maggie- I couldn't agree with more. As far as Kevin Dobson goes he's on my list for a future post.

11/05/2007 10:51 AM by Vincent Martinez (Prudential Network of Homes)


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Real Estate Sales Person: Vincent Martinez (Prudential Network of Homes)
Vincent Martinez
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