What Jay Leno and Jim Carrey Said to Rodney Dangerfield on His Deathbed

· Vice

On August 24, 2004, Rodney Dangerfield underwent heart valve replacement surgery at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. When asked beforehand how long he’d be in the hospital, the Dangerfield joked, “If things go right, I’ll be there about a week, and if things don’t go right, I’ll be there about an hour and a half.” Things didn’t go right, but the comedian lasted a little longer than he’d expected to.

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A few weeks later, Dangerfield’s wife, Joan, told the press that the Caddyshack star had fallen into a “light coma.” However, at the time, he was in stable condition, and she was optimistic that he’d make a complete recovery. “After recent visits from his family and close friends, Rodney is starting to show signs of awareness, and we are all hopeful that he will regain full consciousness soon,” said Joan. Among the people who dropped in to visit the ailing comic during his hospital stay were longtime pals Jay Leno and Jim Carrey.

Leno recounted his final moments with Dangerfield during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in 2017. As he tells it, Joan suggested that the former late-night host hold her husband’s hand at one point to see if it would get Dangerfield to react in some way. “Rodney, if you know Jay’s here, squeeze his finger,” she said. After feeling a slight squeeze, Leno leaned in to Dangerfield and told him, “Rodney, that’s not my finger.” The joke caused Dangerfield to lean forward a bit, and the unexpected response made Leno feel as though he’d successfully been able to make his hero laugh one last time.

As for Carrey’s experience, he revealed to Howard Stern in 2020 that one of the last things he said to Dangerfield was also appropriately humorous. “Don’t worry, I’ll let everybody know that you were gay,” Carrey joked, “that kind of thing isn’t frowned on anymore.” Dangerfield’s eyes then shifted in Carrey’s direction, and his mouth started to shake like he was trying to say something. All of a sudden, the machines lit up, and the hospital staff rushed in, telling Carrey that Dangerfield hadn’t shown any signs like that in a long time.

Sadly, Dangerfield died just a month later on October 5 of that same year. He was 82 years old.

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