Rodney played old Thornton Mellon, the rich clothier who sold clothes to large folk. "If you want to look thin, ya hang out with fat people!" was his slogan. He re-entered college so his kid could be proud of him for getting a degree... and to look out for the kid at the same time.
I seem to remember he had a chauffeur that he hired because of his toughness. The chauffeur once beat up the whole college football team to get Mellon's embarrassed son out of trouble in the bar. The jocks were about to give the kid and his young friend, Robert Downey Jr. a beating. The chauffeur came up to the big football player and said in a quiet voice, "you got a problem?" The jock started to realize the danger he was in and said "I don't have a problem", and the chauffeur said in that dangerous voice, "now ya do." And he beat the crap out of all the jocks.
That guy, the chauffeur, got famous playing Pauly in the Rocky movies. Burt Young was his name. I had thought, "Pauly wasn't tough, he was a fat drunk, I'm not buying this character as a tough guy."
Boy, was I wrong.
Burt Young fought to a 32-2 record in the military, and as a pro fighter he went 17-0. His trainer was Cus D'Amato, the man who became world famous training Mike Tyson.
Burt Young WAS a tough guy. The real thing. That dead-eye troublemaker look came naturally to him.
I owe him an apology.