Don Rickles
Donald Jay Rickles (May 8, 1926 – April 6, 2017) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. He became known primarily for his insult comedy. His film roles include Run Silent, Run Deep (1958), Enter Laughing (1967), Kelly's Heroes (1970), and Casino (1995). From 1976 to 1978, Rickles had a two-season starring role in the NBC television sitcom C.P.O. Sharkey, having previously starred in two eponymous half-hour programs, an ABC variety show titled The Don Rickles Show (1968) and a CBS sitcom identically titled The Don Rickles Show (1972).
This article is about the stand-up comedian. For the radio and television announcer, see Donald Rickles.Don Rickles
Donald Jay Rickles
May 8, 1926
Queens, New York, U.S.
April 6, 2017 (aged 90)
Century City, California, U.S.
- Stand-up
- film
- television
- books
1955–2017
- American culture
- racism
- self-deprecation
- everyday life
- religion
- current events
2, including Larry
United States
1944–1946
- Second World War
A veteran headline performer at Las Vegas hotel-casinos and peripheral member of the Rat Pack via friendship with Frank Sinatra,[1] Rickles received widespread exposure as a frequent guest on talk and variety shows, including The Dean Martin Show, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and The Late Show with David Letterman, and later voicing Mr. Potato Head in the Toy Story franchise. He won a Primetime Emmy Award for the 2007 documentary Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project. In 2014, he was honored by fellow comedians at the Apollo Theater, which was taped and released on Spike TV, entitled Don Rickles: One Night Only.
Early life[edit]
Rickles was born in Queens, New York City, United States,[2] on May 8, 1926.[3] He was Jewish.[4] His father, Max Rickles (1896–1952), emigrated in 1903 with his Lithuanian parents from Kaunas.[5] His mother, Etta Rickles (née Feldman; 1898–1984), was born in New York City to Austrian immigrant parents.[6][7] Rickles grew up in Jackson Heights.[3]
After graduating from Newtown High School in 1944,[8] Rickles enlisted in the United States Navy and served during World War II on the motor torpedo boat tender USS Cyrene as a seaman first class. He was honorably discharged in 1946.[9][10] Two years later, intending to be a dramatic actor, he studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and then played bit parts on television. Frustrated by a lack of acting work, Rickles began performing comedy in clubs in New York, Miami, and Los Angeles. He became known as an insult comedian when he responded to his hecklers. The audience enjoyed these insults more than his prepared material, so he incorporated them into his act.[11]
When Rickles started his career in the early 1950s, he started to call ill-mannered members of the audience "hockey pucks".[12] His style was similar to that of an older insult comic Jack E. Leonard, though Rickles denied Leonard influenced his style.[13] During an interview on Larry King Live, Rickles credited Milton Berle's comedy style for inspiring him to enter show business.[14]
Personal life[edit]
On March 14, 1965, Rickles married Barbara Sklar of Philadelphia. He admitted to having a difficult time romantically in his 20s and 30s, meeting Sklar through his agent when he was 38 years old and falling for her when she failed to get his sense of humor.[50][51] They had two children: Mindy, an actress, and Larry, a producer who died of pneumonia at the age of 41.[52] According to Rickles' memoir, his grandchildren Ethan and Harrison Mann were much more impressed by his role as Mr. Potato Head than by any of his other achievements. Barbara Rickles died from non-Hodgkin lymphoma on March 14, 2021, exactly 56 years after the couple married.[53]
Rickles was an only child.
Rickles befriended mobster "Crazy" Joe Gallo following a performance at the Copacabana in 1972. Gallo, whom Rickles had ribbed mercilessly during his set, despite being warned not to do so, accepted Rickles' ribbings in good humor and invited him to Umberto's Clam House after the show. Rickles declined the offer. That night, a gunfight erupted at Umberto's, killing Gallo.[54]
Rickles performed at the inaugurations of Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush with his friend Frank Sinatra,[55] although Rickles himself was a "lifelong" Democrat.[56]
He considered Bob Newhart his best friend, and the two often vacationed together along with their wives, who were also close.[57] Rickles and Newhart appeared together on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on January 24, 2005, the Monday following Johnny Carson's death, reminiscing about their many guest appearances on Carson's show. The two also appeared together on the television sitcom Newhart and for previous episodes of The Tonight Show, where Newhart or Rickles were guest hosts. The friendship was memorialized in Bob & Don: A Love Story -- a 2023 short documentary film by Judd Apatow featuring interviews with and home movies of both families. [58]