Two of the producers of the Oscar-winning movie about soul singer Ray Charles are now turning their attention to another dead entertainer, Rodney Dangerfield, the comic famed for the signature phrase “I can’t get no respect.”
Hollywood trade paper Daily Variety reported in its Tuesday edition that producers Howard and Karen Baldwin will base their project in part on Dangerfield’s memoir “It’s Not Easy Bein’ Me,” which was published four months before he died last October, aged 82.
They also acquired life story rights from his widow, Joan.
“Rodney took the indignities of everyday life and spun them into golden one-liners that endeared him to millions around the world,” the paper quoted Joan Dangerfield as saying. “But while he was making everyone forget their troubles by laughing at his, Rodney’s own life was a heavy-hearted one.”
After an unhappy childhood, Dangerfield struggled on the comedy circuit before giving it up for 12 years to sell aluminum siding and raise a family. He returned to comedy when he was 40, winning instant acclaim for his self-deprecating one-liners. He also starred in such films as “Caddyshack” and “Back to School.”
The Baldwins were among the producers of “Ray,” which garnered an Academy Award for Jamie Foxx’s lead performance as the blind soul singer.