Rodney Dangerfield Loved Chinese Pears

Rodney Dangerfield starred as Thornton Mellon in Orion Pictures, "Back To School" which opened in the United States and Canada on June 13, 1986.

Rodney Dangerfield was absolutely fascinating to be with. He could be surprisingly charming and marvelously outrageous.

Co-starring Sally Kellerman, Keith Gordon, Ned Beatty, Burt Young and Robert Downey, Jr., the plot centers on a very rich, poorly educated father, (Rodney) who attends college to show unity with his disheartened son.

We had great fun at the Manhattan photo shoot for the key advertising art for theatrical posters and newspaper ads. Rodney was dressed in a university chancellor’s robes and Tam. He made wonderful silly faces and we couldn’t stop laughing.

On the limousine ride back to his apartment, he looked at me and blurted out, “ Hey, I wanna stop at Balducci’s.” (Balducci’s is an upscale market in New York.) I asked why. “Because I wanna Chinese Pear. I like Chinese pears!” he enthused. The driver let us out at Balducci’s near his home. I followed Rodney into the store. It was around noon. He was in a sports jacket and a shirt with no tie.

He went to the produce section and carefully selected two Chinese Pears and went to the nearest check-out counter. He paid the cashier, winked at me and said, “ Fellas, this one’s for now” as he bit into the gold brown piece of fruit , “And I’ll eat this one later.” When we exited Balducci’s , his mouth full of Chinese pear, he led us across the street to a fashionable East Side hardware store to help him find some new pull knobs for his kitchen cabinet doors.

“Back To School” was the 2nd highest grossing comedy of the year and the 6th highest grossing film of 1986 and grossed $110 Million worldwide. Every time I am in the fruit department of a grocery store and see the Asian Pear display I remember Rodney and those two Chinese pears.

One for now and one for later.

Charles Glenn is the former EVP Marketing Paramount, Universal, Orion pictures.