Rodney Dangerfield

As a teenager, Jacob Cohen started in stand-up comedy and changed his name to Jack Roy. After nine years, he quit show business. When he returned in 1962, he wanted to change his name to distance himself from his previous failure. A club owner gave him the name of "Rodney Dangerfield" after Ricky Nelson used the name in an episode of "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet." But Jack Roy remained his legal name for the rest of his life. One night, he saw an older, low-level gangster complaining about how young people gave him "no respect, no respect at all," and he never forgot it.

"I had this joke: 'I played hide and seek; they wouldn't even look for me.' To make it work better, you look for something to put in front of it: 'I was so poor, I was so dumb,' so this, so that. I thought, '"Now what fits that joke?'" Well, 'No one liked me' was all right. But then I thought, 'A more profound thing would be, 'I get no respect!'"

According to Chris Nashawaty's book "Caddyshack," Dangerfield was so unaccustomed to how films were made, Harold Ramis had to gently guide him through the 1980 film to make sure he was comfortable. The first scene Dangerfield was in, the pro shop scene, was ready to go and Ramis called "Action." Nothing happened. Dangerfield just stood there. Ramis asked him if there was a problem. Was he ready? "Sure," Dangerfield said. Ramis called "Action" again. Again, nothing. Ramis walked over to him and said "Rodney, when I call 'Action,' that's your cue to come in and do the scene." "You mean, do my bit?" "Yes, do your bit." Ramis called "Action" for a third time. Silence. He then said "OK, Rodney, now do your bit." Dangerfield pounced into the room and delivered a perfect take, even improvising the line about getting a free bowl of soup. From then on, whenever Dangerfield was in a scene, Ramis never said "Action." He just said, "OK, Rodney, do your bit."

The noises that the gopher makes in the film are actually vocalized by a dolphin, and the dolphin sound effects used are the same ones that were used for Flipper on the TV show of the same name.

Happy Birthday, Rodney Dangerfield!