Rodney Dangerfield - Early Life

Early Life

Dangerfield was born in Deer Park within the Town of Babylon, New York, in Suffolk County, Long Island, New York. He was the son of Jewish parents, the vaudevillian performer Phil Roy (Philip Cohen) and Dotty Teitelbaum. His ancestors came to the United States from Hungary. He would later say that his father "was never home—he was out looking to make other kids", and that his mother "brought him up all wrong".

At the age of 15, he began to write for standup comedians, and began to perform at the age of 20 under the name Jack Roy. He struggled financially for nine years, at one point performing as a singing waiter until he was fired, and also working as a performing acrobatic diver before giving up show business to take a job selling aluminum siding to support his wife and family. He later said that he was so little known then that "at the time I quit, I was the only one who knew I quit!"