Comedy Legend Rodney Dangerfield Passes Away

America lost a comedy legend yesterday. Rodney Dangerfield passed away at the age of 82.

Rodney is seen here after winning a lifetime achievement award. He is also shown here with Jim Carrey, just one of many comedy personalities that got their start with the help of Rodney Dangerfield.

I got this information directly from Rodney.com:

LOS ANGELES---Beloved comedian Rodney Dangerfield passed away yesterday at 1:20pm at UCLA Medical Center following a difficult recovery from heart valve replacement surgery performed on August 25. He was 82 years old. According to his doctors, Rodney suffered a small stroke post operatively and developed infectious and abdominal complications from which he did not recover.

Born Jacob Cohen on November 22, 1921 in Babylon, Long Island, NY, the King of "No Respect" and classic one-liners began his career at the age of 15 when he started writing jokes. At 17, he started performing at amateur nights under the name "Jack Roy." At 19, he had two jobs, one as a comic who couldn't make a living, and the other as a singing waiter. Rodney traveled the comedy circuit for 10 years, but reluctantly gave up showbiz for a more stable income, selling aluminum siding.

Following his heart surgery, Dangerfield slipped into a coma. However, over the last week, he was showing early signs of neurological improvement due to the innovative Real Time EEG Neurofeedback sessions performed by specialist Margaret Ayers. Ayers was brought in on September 26 by Dangerfield's wife, Joan.

According to Joan Dangerfield, "What Margaret was able to accomplish with Rodney was truly astounding. When Rodney emerged, he kissed me, squeezed my hand, and smiled for his doctors. To her, I will be forever grateful for giving us those moments."

On his last day, Rodney was surrounded by his family, including his children, Brian and Melanie, his father-in-law Smokey, his niece Suzie and his wife, Joan. "As we were all gathered around his bedside, one of Rodney's favorite Frank Sinatra albums was playing in the room. Rodney slipped away during the song "Come Fly With Me."

Dangerfield has bravely faced some health challenges in recent years, including abdominal aortic aneurism surgery in 1992, a double-bypass heart surgery in March of 2000 and an operation three months later to correct another aneurysm. He also suffered a mild heart attack in November of 2001 just before his birthday. In addition, UCLA's chief of neurosurgery performed a rare extracranial-intracranial brain bypass on Dangerfield in April of 2003 to increase blood flow and lessen the risk of the recent heart valve replacement.

Respect Rodney, Respect

SlagleRock Out!

Posted by SlagleRock at October 6, 2004 03:50 PM