The Tears of a Clown

Even "It's Not Easy Bein' Me" (subtitle: "A Lifetime of No Respect but Plenty of Sex and Drugs"), which three weeks ago landed on the New York Times bestseller list, is an attempt at inner soothing.

Though Dangerfield still broods, his outlook actually improved 11 years ago, when he married Joan Child, a clean-living Mormon flower shop owner he first met in the late '70s. Joan, who is his second wife (he has two grown children from his first marriage), is 30 years younger than her husband, and looks even younger than that. She has sandy-blond hair and a glowing smile, and comparisons to Kim Basinger (the "Batman" years) are not a stretch. She still remembers the first time she saw Dangerfield, as he approached her flower shop in the Santa Monica Place mall and casually asked, "What kind of drugs do you like?"

Instead of being offended, she was confused. "Antibiotics, I guess," she said.

The innocent reply was endearing to Dangerfield, who stopped by repeatedly and eventually asked her out on an official dinner date. They courted off and on through the years, until Dec. 26, 1993, when the two whisked off to Las Vegas and tied the knot in the first wedding chapel they could find.

"He started smoking marijuana in the limo, and I wasn't sure how serious he was," she says. "But he went through with it, thank goodness."

Nowadays, the two are inseparable. Although he performs stand-up only a couple of times a year (his health prevents him from touring on a regular basis) and is no longer interested in pursuing movie roles, Dangerfield continues to write jokes, then test them out on his spouse.

"My wife is the worst cook in the world. At my house, we pray after we eat."

"People think I get plenty of girls. I go to drive-in movies and do push-ups in the back seat of my car."

Funny or not, Joan chuckles every time.

"Laughter," she says, "is something Rodney still responds to. It makes him feel happy."

Laughter, after all, has been Dangerfield's life.