Who doesn’t remember Rodney the comedian that got “no respect” and his rapid-fire-one-liners. A look at his life will give you a little insight as to how birth order affects our lives. The power of attraction between people is an often studied and misunderstood phenomenon. How we find our friends is another mystery that birth order can answer. Looking at his life you will see how birth order affected all parts of it, as it does for everyone.
Early Years
Rodney’s early years were not the easiest. His family was a dysfunctional one as his father was a vaudevillian performer, Phillip Cohen, using the stage name Phil Roy; he would come home twice a year. His mother was from Austria/Hungary and showed Rodney little affection. She may have transferred her negative feelings for his father, who abandoned the family, to him. She had to support both Rodney and his older sister Marion three years older. Rodney was the second born. His early feelings of rejection may have given him the idea to use “no respect” in his standup act. At age 15, he began to write for stand-up comedians and performed at a resort. He changed his name to Jack Roy at age 19.
First Marriage
He began his career as a comedian preforming at resorts in upstate New York. He was also doing odd jobs, driving a delivery truck and working as a singing waiter. In 1951, he met Joyce Indig, a singer they married and raised two children. Joyce had almost the same birth order as his older sister. This is one type of “love at first sight” when you meet someone with the same birth order as one of your siblings. Although Joyce was a firstborn like Rodney’s sister, she was nine years older than her younger sister was. This gave her a Double birth order with characteristics of both an Only and Firstborn. Close but not perfect. They divorced after ten years of marriage.
Second Marriage
The strength of the birth order connection cannot be denied, after one year apart they married again. This marriage lasted seven years until it permanently ended. It was during the time he was married to Joyce that he dropped out of preforming and worked as an aluminum siding salesman.
Return to the Stage
March 1968 he got his big break, The Ed Sullivan Show, he was 47 years old. He performed on this show 17 times. This led to the Dean Martin Show 28 times and Johnny Carson over 70 times. It is interesting to note that both Dean and Johnny were both second borns. When you meet someone with your same birth order, you have an instant friendship, it showed. It helps to get a hand up in show business. His success led to 21 movies. Who can forget Caddyshack, Easy Money and Back to School, some of his movies were all Rodney. One of his last movies released after his death, was Angels with Angles in which he played GOD.
Third Marriage
Birth Order works in predicable ways and it has no age barriers. This was true for Rodney and Joan Child. Joan was 30 years younger but it did not seem to matter. She said it was “Love at first sight”; both of them were second borns. This is the second type of “Love at first Sight”; when you meet someone with your same birth order, its magic. It is like looking into a mirror. They had eleven years together before Rodney’s death.
One Liners
This blog cannot be complete without a few of Rodney’s one-liners. “I have good looking kids. Thank goodness my wife cheats on me.” “I haven’t spoken to my wife in years. I didn’t want to interrupt her.” “I told my psychiatrist that everyone hates me. He said I was being ridiculous. Everyone hasn’t met me yet.” “ I told my wife the truth; I told her I was seeing a psychiatrist. Then she told me the truth; that she was seeing a psychiatrist, two plumbers, and a bartender.” “It’s tough to stay married. My wife kisses the dog on the lips, yet she won’t drink from my glass.” “My uncle’s dying wish; He wanted me on his lap. He was in the electric chair.” “When I was a kid my parents moved a lot, but I always found them.” ”My psychiatrist told me I was crazy and I said I want a second opinion. He said okay, you’re ugly too.”
His Parting Words
Rodney’s self-deprecating humor tells us we should not take ourselves too seriously. Before his last operation when asked how long he would be in the hospital, he said, “If all goes well, about a week. If not, about an hour and a half.” He would die six weeks later. When hearing of his death both Johnny Carson and Jay Leno, another second born, referred to Dangerfield as the best stand-up-comedian who ever lived. On the day of his death, the randomly generated Joke of the Day on his website happened to be “I tell ya I get no respect from anyone. I bought a cemetery plot. The guy said, “There goes the neighborhood!” This led his wife, Joan, to put this on his headstone, “There goes the neighborhood.”
For more information about birth order, you can find it in my book. Life’s Fingerprint: How Birth Order Affects Your Path Throughout Life, by Dr. Robert V. V. Hurst or our website www.lifesfingerprint.com or www.mybirthorder.com
