Rapid Rodney

Kirk Baird

Friday, March 16, 2001 | 5:29 a.m.

It's been said that the world is a comedy to those who think, and a tragedy to those who feel.

Rodney Dangerfield knows both. As a struggling comedian who quit show business at age 30 to be a siding salesman and support his then-wife, and then with his triumphant return to comedy 10 years later when his catchphrase, "I don't get no respect," caught on nationwide and made him one of the most recognizable names in show business.

Living the good life in Los Angeles at age 78, it would seem Dangerfield would have plenty to discuss.

There are his several movies, with "Caddyshack," "Back to School" and "Easy Money" easily being the choice of the litter. There is his 1991 lawsuit against Caesars Palace, in which he claimed a backstage steam room accident at the hotel caused eye injuries. (After a favorable jury verdict, it was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.) Then there was his double-bypass heart surgery a year ago, from which he's made a full recovery.

But a persistent call from nature derailed those discussions.

Nonetheless, in a recent chat with the Las Vegas Sun, Dangerfield was able to talk briefly about his career and to promote his performance at the MGM Grand Thursday through March 22:

Sun: From the sound of things, your life seems to be going well. Is that the case?

Rodney Dangerfield: I'm going along, taking care of things. I keep busy doing the things that keep me busy. I'm lucky, I'm doing the work I like. I like the MGM, it's a nice place, they treat me right. It was different when I was kid. The hotels I stayed at were dumps. There was one hotel I stayed at that was such a dump, they stole my towel.

Sun: You obviously don't need the money, so why do you still perform stand-up?

RD: I like doing stand-up, you know. There's nothing like a live audience to get a reaction. That way you can have a romance with the audience. Show business is live, that's what's exciting. I never heard someone say, "I caught him live, but I want to see him on television." I'm happy when I'm working live.

What else do you want to talk about, babe?

Sun: By performing stand-up, are you trying to make up for lost time when you walked away from show business?

RD: I quit show business when I was 28. I got married and quit. I do a joke: "To give you an idea of how well I was doing at the time I quit, I was the only one who knew I quit." And I came back when I was 40. It was the lowest point ever of my life. I couldn't live at home -- I had a domestic situation -- I had to live in a cheap hotel in New York. I owed 20-thousand bucks. I went back into show business, the toughest business in the world. My mother was dying of cancer ... everything was happening. I thought, "What else could happen to me? Nothing, I'll die." So I just went along and kept working and doing what I had to do. It was tough going back into show business, but it's something I wanted to do.

Sun: What did you do differently that led to your success?

RD: Before, I was a kid. I was immature. I wasn't doing mature things, I had no image. When I came back to show business I had an image that I wanted to convey. The image was "nothing goes right," and I thought people would identify with that and they did. And that's what it is. Then "Godfather" came out. And everything was respect, respect, respect. So I said I'll try a joke, I said, "I don't get no respect. I played hide and seek and they won't even look for me." That was the first joke I wrote. I tried it out and people identified with it.

When I came back I had matured. You can't be a kid 25 years old and say, "I tell you, life is tough." He hasn't lived it. But I can say life is tough because I found out life is tough.

Sun: There aren't many comedians who perform anything resembling your style of comedy.

RD: There's not too many images. I'm an image. There's an image of me, like W.C. Fields. Not that I'm flattering myself, but he was an image. Jack Benny was an image. Mine is an image thing, and I happened to hit upon one that people identify with.

Sun: I know you've been instrumental in giving some comedians their break, such as Sam Kinison and Andy Kaufman. Why is it that you help up-and-coming comics?

RD: If I meet a guy who I think has got it, I'll give him a break and try to help.

... All right ... I had to go to the bathroom now for a half-hour, do you know that? (Laughs)

Sun: A couple more quick questions ...

RD: I really have to run.

Sun: I have to ask you about your heart surgery.

RD: I can't go into that now. Thank God I'm all right and everything is cool.