This past August, 82-year-old comedian Rodney Dangerfield entered a Los Angeles hospital for heart surgery. But not without offering a joke first.
\If things go right, I'll be there about a week, and if things don't go right, I'll be there about an hour and a half,"" Dangerfield said.
Recently, it was reported that Dangerfield was not only recovering steadily, but had received visits from friends like Jim Carrey, Adam Sandler and Jay Leno to lift his spirits. But soon after those reports surfaced, Dangerfield's wife admitted that while her husband had been visited by the comedians, he had not yet regained consciousness. His one last return to clowning with the best was just a wishful thought for the public.
But as comedy lovers everywhere mourn the loss of Dangerfield, who passed away yesterday, it's understandable why people would refuse to believe that Dangerfield had missed that chance to share in the laughs. An icon of the disrespectful and the disrespected alike; the greatest modern artisan of one-liners this side of Woody Allen; and the cornerstone of one of UW's proudest legacies-at least among its students-Dangerfield is perhaps defined best by the odd assortment of things he accomplished when he had so little to work with.
But that wouldn't be giving him enough respect.
Every year, Dangerfield's 1986 hit ""Back to School"" is among the first required activities for new UW students. Watching an older Dangerfield in Madison dealing with lunatic professors, self-important bar patrons, and an unattainable crush has lent perspective to college students doing the same things in their teens and 20s, while drawing continued laughter at his flair for self-deprecating humor.
But while Dangerfield's movie successes, like ""Back to School"" and the more celebrated ""Caddyshack"" are well known, he left an even bigger mark in standup comedy. As a performer, Dangerfield struggled and briefly quit in the 1940s, but rose to fame later, peaking in the '70s with regular gigs on ""The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson"" and ""Saturday Night Live."" But perhaps even more important was his influence on younger comedians, as he opened a self-named club in New York and helped boost the careers of Carrey, Jerry Seinfeld, Tim Allen and Roseanne, among others.
Looking back on Dangerfield's life, now is a time to laugh at his movies, appreciate the legacy of helping younger comedians, and grin at some of his weirder accomplishments, like his hit rap single in 1983 or his dramatic role in Oliver Stone's ""Natural Born Killers."" But more than anything, maybe it's time to take the cue of those false reports and enjoy a little wishful thinking, where Dangerfield has moved to the comedy afterworld, where Sam Kinison shouts obscenities at him while he interrupts Ted Knight's golf game.
Either way, it's finally time for Rodney Dangerfield to get respect.
