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Legal wrangle over Dangerfield video

23/09/2007

Video footage of the late US comic Rodney Dangerfield is the subject of a legal battle in California this weekend.

According to reports Dangerfield's second wife Joan has filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles suing an old family friend for his plans to use the footage.

The Associated Press news agency reports that the footage currently held by David Permut is "highly private, extremely sensitive and very personal" as it shows the comedian at home in his declining years, often in very ill health.

Permut is alleged to have already shown the footage to journalists and even suggested that it be used in a documentary about Dangerfield.

The lawsuit seeks to ensure that the footage will not be shown until the dispute is settled.

Dangerfield died aged 82 in 2004 after a successful career as a late developer in comedy. His first major movie, Caddyshack, propelled him into the limelight where he stayed thanks to his self-deprecating humour.

He achieved No Respect with his Grammy-winning comedy album and was most popular in the early 1980s, but retained his sense of humour right to the end.

When facing desperately needed surgery one year before his death, he replied to a reporter asking how long he would be staying in hospital: "If all goes well, about a week. If not, about an hour and a half."