It's Been 20 Years Since Legendary Comedian Rodney Dangerfield Died & Got "No Respect": A Look Back

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It's been two decades since iconic comedian Rodney Dangerfield died in Los Angeles on October 5, 2004, at 82. He got "no respect," his signature line, and here's a look back at his life and career.

A Legend Was Born

Rodney Dangerfield was born Jacob Cohen on November 22, 1921, in Babylon, Long Island, New York to Dorothy (née Teitelbaum) and Phillip Cohen, both of European Jewish ancestry. He and his elder sister were raised in Queens. His father, a vaudeville comic and juggler, abandoned the family soon after Jacob's birth.

As he grew up, young Jacob was hired for various odd jobs, including delivering groceries after school and selling ice cream on the beach.

All the while, he suffered from low self-esteem, due to his mother’s poor parenting skills and frequent anti-Semitic abuse from his teachers.

To cope, Jacob wrote and told jokes in class. In his late teens, he began doing so on stage, changing his name to Jack Roy, and becoming a singing waiter and comic throughout New York City and New Jersey.

The now-named-Roy also performed in the resorts of the Catskill Mountains region of upstate New York, known as the Borscht Belt for its tradition of Jewish performers.

Then Came Marriage

Jack Roy married Joyce Indig, a singer, and the couple settled in Englewood, New Jersey, where they had two children. He made a living selling paint and aluminum siding for nearly a decade. The couple divorced in 1962 and remarried a year later—only to divorce again, this time permanently, in 1970.

A Second Chance

When he was in his early 40s, Jack Roy decided to give comedy another chance, encouraged by fellow comedian Jack Benny.

It was Benny who impressed upon Roy the importance of the mainstream "no respect" angle in his persona.

Roy eventually changed his name once more, this time to "Rodney Dangerfield." His career took off with TV talk show appearances with Mike Douglas, Johnny Carson, and others. Prime-time variety shows followed including spots on The Ed Sullivan Show and more.

Into the 1980s, Dangerfield became a movie star on the big screen with films like Caddyshack.

In the end, Rodney Dangerfield finally got all kinds of respect.