Dangerfield's Widow Sues to Stop Documentary

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 22, 2007 -- Rodney Dangerfield's widow suggests that even in death, the comedian can't get any respect.

Joan Dangerfield has filed a lawsuit to stop the airing of a videotape of Dangerfield in his later years that she says was never intended for the public.

The comedian, whose catch phrase was "I don't get no respect," was 82 when he died in October 2004.

The suit claims producer David Permut has more than 200 hours of video footage of Dangerfield taken at his home during the last few years of his life. The lawsuit says the material is "highly private, extremely sensitive and very personal" and much of it shows him in ill health.

The suit claims that Permut, a former friend, has shown some of the material to a writer and a newspaper reporter and is editing the material into a documentary called "Respect."

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