Jacob Cohen(aka Rodney Dangerfield) was born on November 22, 1921 in Deer Park, Long Island, New York. Jacob Cohen started writing jokes for other stand-up comedians at the ripe old age of fifteen. He decided to make a go of it on his own at the age of nineteen with the stage name Jack Roy.
Jack Roy struggled for several years until he decided that what he was missing was a "hook" and thus Rodney Dangerfield was born. He continued to struggle until a cancellation on The Ed Sullivan Show landed him a chance to shine. On March 5th 1967, Rodney Dangerfield made his television debut and stole the show. In comedy lore it was reported that Ed Sullivan himself laughed at Rodney which was a rarity as Ed was impossible to make laugh.
From there it was mostly uphill for the "King of Self-Deprecating Humour." He made regular television appearances after that including the The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and Saturday Night Live. Rodney's star reached it peak in the 1980's when he starred in a comedic masterpiece known as "Caddyshack".
In the '90's and '00's Rodney continued to make occasional television appearances however once his health started to deteriorate so did his time in the spotlight. Sadly on October 5th, 2004 Rodney Dangerfield passed away at the age of 82.
It is surely the purest form of irony that a man who struggled all his life to make others laugh would find success by telling people "I get no respect."
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