The late stand-up comedian and actor Rodney Dangerfield will finally get the respect he deserves with bronze plaque near the building where he grew up in Kew Gardens.
The plaque will be unveiled at the kickoff party for the Kew Gardens Festival of Cinema on Friday, Aug. 4, at 8 p.m. It will be displayed in a garden between the Kew Gardens LIRR station and Austin’s Ale House’s Trackside Cafe.
According to DNAinfo, a group of students from the Aquinas Honor Society of the Immaculate Conception School in Jamaica Estates came up with the idea to honor Dangerfield with the plaque. They reached out to Joan Dangerfield, Rodney’s widow, and worked with her to create the plaque.
The plaque will feature Dangerfield’s famous catchphrase, “I don’t get no respect.” It will also highlight his early life in Kew Gardens, his major achievement s and a list of films starring the late actor, including “Caddyshack,” “Back to School” and “Easy Money.”
Born in Deer Park, NY, Dangerfield moved to Kew Gardens at the age of 10 and lived above what is now Austin’s Ale House. He passed away in Los Angeles in October of 2004 at the age of 82 from complications from heart valve replacement surgery.
He is buried in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery, where his headstone reads “Rodney Dangerfield… There goes the neighborhood.”
