Nothing Comes Easy The Life Of Rodney Dangerfield From Michael Seth Starr Releases

NOTHIN' COMES EASY: The Life of Rodney Dangerfield (April 29, 2025) is the first biography of the "bug-eyed, sweaty, herky-jerky, tie-pulling comedian with the doleful countenance." Dangerfield's indelible beat-down image was played for laughs, but there were sad truths behind his sad-sack persona. TV writer Michael Seth Starr has crafted an immensely entertaining bio of the comedian's slog up the show business ladder. Ten years as a C-level stand-up comedian, he quit the business to sell aluminum siding and paint to keep the lights on. Then he went back to the clubs under an entirely new name, from Jack Roy to Rodney Dangerfield. A career-changing appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show at the ripe age of forty-five would be the lucky break, opening doors to television, movies, and comic fame at last. His catch phrase, "I don't get no respect," underscored his circuitous rise to the top after years of setbacks and grit. "What stood out for me, in authoring this book," writes Starr, '"was Dangerfield's perseverance in the face of such overwhelming odds. I was impressed at how he launched a second comedy career as a man already in his forties and out of the game for a decade. He never abandoned his undeniable urge to get back in the game and to share his seemingly unending reservoir of magical one-liners." At the beginning of his comeback, he began writing jokes for comedians like Jackie Mason and Joey Bishop, in the days before the "no respect" persona was solidified. He worked agentless, making his own deals. And it took him a solid five years to clinch his now celebrated debut on The Ed Sullivan Show. It took another few years of hustling on the circuit before he landed on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show, which opened a wealth of doors in Hollywood. Dangerfield's comedy style - a self-mocking angst, the comedy of the perpetual loser - was endearing and universal. He was the schlubby Everyman snubbed by life, finally making it big. Soon Dangerfield would be leaving his mark in films, most famously in Caddyshack and Back to School. He was rebuffed in later years by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences - which refused him membership. But Dangerfield had already cemented his place in comedy history as a writer and performer. When he died in 2004, his death made international headlines. Among his pallbearers were George Carlin, Roseanne Barr, Chris Rock, Larry David, Andrew Dice Clay, Jon Lovitz, and Carl Reiner. The book closes with a highly engaging chapter, "Riffs on Rodney," with remembrances of the comic from his peers including Jay Leno, Rita Rudney, Bob Nelson, Robert Wuhl, and Pauly Shore. 

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/arroe-collins-like-it-s-live--4113802/support.