Rodney Dangerfield

Rodney Dangerfield died Tuesday afternoon. Initially, I didn't have fond memories of him. As a child, I thought he was too low brow and I thought he mad some really bad movie. Caddyshack was okay, but not because of Dangerfield.

But then, as an adult, I realised that movies just weren't his strong point. He was a one-liner kind of comedian, someone who interjected a joke every so often to great effect ("I could tell that my parents hated me. My bath toys were a toaster and a radio."), but that just did not translate to the screen. He also played roles, like the coach in Ladybugs, where he had a soft heart. All of those emotions required the nuanced touch of an actor. Rodney Dangerfield was a comedian, and I was grading him as though he was an actor. (Comedians, by the way, should follow the Jerry Seinfeld guide to acting -- no hugging, no learning, just jokes.)

I had a reawakening a couple of years ago. Sitting at work, bored, I googled him and read his jokes and I laughed hysterically. His voice, distinctive as it was, was ingrained in my mind, which added to the humour. His jokes are pithy, cutting to the point, and, well, funny as hell. Self-deprecation has always been a reliable form of humour and some do it better than others (Conan O'Brien and David Letterman do it very well). Rodney Dangerfield was the best.