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Rodney Laid to Rest
Respect at last.
An all-star Hollywood ensemble--looking more like a Friars Roast crowd than a group of mourners--gathered Sunday to send off Rodney Dangerfield to the great stand-up stage in the sky.
The veteran wisecracker, who died Oct. 5 following complications from heart-valve surgery, was eulogized in a candle-lit ceremony at dusk, a nod to Dangerfield's habit of never taking appointments until after 5 p.m.--because he was a "night person."
Following the memorial, his remains were interred at Pierce Brothers Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles, final resting place for such Tinseltown luminaries as Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon, Walter Matthau and Natalie Wood.
The private service was organized by his widow, Joan Dangerfield, in accordance with his last wishes was attended by more than 500 relatives, protégés and pals.
Bob Saget served as emcee for the tribute, which featured remembrances from such comic heavyweights as Jim Carrey, Jay Leno, Tim Allen, Roseanne and Paul Rodriguez, all of whom were mentored by Dangerfield in the early stages of their careers.
"The greatest stand-up comedian of all time," praised Leno.
Added Carrey: "I'll never forget how kind he was to my father. I remember watching Rodney on The Ed Sullivan Show as a child, and laughing, not because I got the jokes, but because my father was in hysterics."
A common theme was how helpful Dangerfield was, especially to up-and-coming comedians, frequently giving their careers a boost via appearances at his influential comedy club, Dangerfield's.
Dangerfield's daughter, Melanie Roy Friedman, and nieces Morgan and SueAnn Reese also addressed the mourners.
Michael Bolton, on hand to sing a tribute tune, was too choked up to croon. Instead, he offered a brief eulogy and served as a pallbearer, along with Carrey, Saget, Adam Sandler, Rob Schneider, Harry Basil, David Permut and Dangerfield's son, Brian Roy, and son-in-law, David Friedman.
Those invited to serve as honorary pallbearers included Leno, Rodriguez, George Carlin, Chris Rock, Larry David, Carl Reiner, Andrew Dice Clay, Jon Lovitz, Anne Meara and Jerry Stiller.
Permut, a longtime family friend, also put together a video clip featuring some of Dangerfield's most memorable bits.
Frank Sinatra's "Come Fly with Me" was played as the recessional--Joan Dangerfield said she chose the song because it was playing in her husband's hospital room at the time he died.
Others on hand Sunday included Louie Anderson, who led mourners in a prayer, George Lopez, Ben Stiller, Brian Doyle-Murray, Dyan Cannon, Robert Klein, Connie Stevens, Farrah Fawcett and Jayne Meadows.
Several celebs who couldn't make the funeral--Jack Nicholson, Whoopi Goldberg, Larry King, Rita Rudner and John Travolta, among others--sent floral bouquets. Shaquille O'Neal reportedly sent a 7-foot tree to stand in for him.
Dangerfield was buried after sunset at a gravesite outside the chapel that will eventually feature a full-figure bronze statue being created in the gag man's honor.
No word if he'll be depicted in his favorite bathrobe.
Meanwhile, Joan Dangerfield has established a Rodney Dangerfield Fund at UCLA Medical Center, where her husband was treated, to support clinical research and education in the field of cardiac surgery for advanced heart disease.
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