Donald Jay Rickles (b. May 8, 1926 – d. April 6, 2017) was an American actor, author, and stand-up comedian. He was known especially for his insult comedy. His film roles included Run Silent, Run Deep (1958) with Clark Gable, Carl Reiner's Enter Laughing (1967), Clint Eastwood's Kelly's Heroes (1970), and Martin Scorsese's Casino (1995) with Robert De Niro; From 1976 to 1978, he enjoyed a two-season run starring in the NBC television sitcom C.P.O. Sharkey and previously had starred in another sitcom, The Don Rickles Show (1972).
A veteran headline performer at Las Vegas hotel-casinos and peripheral member of the Rat Pack via friendship with Frank Sinatra, 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 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 Theatre which was taped and released on Spike TV entitled, Don Rickles: One Night Only.
Early life[]
Rickles was born Donald Jay Rickles in Queens, New York, on May 8, 1926. He was Jewish. His father Max Rickles (1897–1953) emigrated in 1903 with his Lithuanian parents from Kaunas (then in the Russian Empire); his mother Etta Rickles (née Feldman; 1898–1984) was born in New York City to Austrian immigrant parents. Rickles grew up in Jackson Heights.
After graduating from Newtown High School in 1944, he 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. 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 insulting comedian when he responded to his hecklers. The audience enjoyed these insults more than his prepared material, so he incorporated them into his act.
When he began his career in the early 1950s, Rickles started to call ill-mannered members of the audience "hockey pucks". His style was similar to that of an older insult comic Jack E. Leonard, though Rickles denied Leonard influenced his style. During an interview on Larry King Live, Rickles credited Milton Berle's comedy style for inspiring him to enter show business.
Career[]
1950s–1960s[]
While working in the "Murray Franklin's" nightclub in Miami Beach, Florida, early in his career, Rickles spotted Frank Sinatra and remarked to him, "I saw your movie The Pride and the Passion and I want to tell you, the cannon's acting was great." He added, "Make yourself at home, Frank. Hit somebody!" Sinatra, whose pet name for Rickles was "bullet-head", enjoyed him so much that he encouraged other celebrities to see Rickles' act and be insulted by him. Sinatra's support helped Rickles become a popular headline performer in Las Vegas. During a Dean Martin Celebrity Roast special, Rickles was among those who took part in roasting Sinatra, and Rickles himself was also roasted during another show in the series.
Rickles earned the nicknames "The Merchant of Venom" and "Mr. Warmth" for his poking fun at people of all ethnicities and all walks of life. When he was introduced to an audience or on a television talk show, Spanish matador music, "La Virgen de la Macarena", would usually be played, subtly foreshadowing a person was about to be metaphorically gored. As Rickles observed, "I always pictured myself facing the audience as the matador."
In 1958, he made his film debut in a serious part in Run Silent, Run Deep with Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster. Throughout the 1960s, he often appeared on television in sitcoms and dramatic series. Rickles guest-starred in Get Smart as Sid, an old war buddy of Max's, who comes to stay with him. In an episode of Run for Your Life, Rickles portrayed a distressed comedian whose act culminates when he strangles a patron while imploring the patron to "Laugh!" Rickles took a dramatic turn in the low-budget Roger Corman science-fiction/horror film X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes as a carnival barker out to exploit the title character (portrayed by Ray Milland)
Rickles appeared in the Beach Party film series. He recalled in his 2007 memoir that at a White House dinner, Barbara Bush teased him about his decision to appear in those films. Rickles' agent Jack Gilardi was married to Annette Funicello when Rickles was cast in the Beach Party films. He subsequently began to appear more frequently on television talk shows, first appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in 1965.
He became a frequent guest and guest host, appearing more than 100 times on The Tonight Show during Carson's era. An early Carson–Rickles Tonight highlight occurred in 1968 when, while two Japanese women treated Carson to a bath and foot massage, Rickles walked onto the set. He also made frequent appearances on The Dean Martin Show and became a fixture on The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast specials.
In 1968, Rickles released a live comedy album titled Hello, Dummy!, which reached number 54 on the Billboard 200 album chart. The same year, he starred in his variety show on ABC, The Don Rickles Show, with comedy writer Pat McCormick as his sidekick; the show lasted one season. During the 1960s, Rickles made guest appearances on The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Munsters, The Addams Family, The Mothers-in-Law, Gilligan's Island, Get Smart, The Twilight Zone, The Andy Griffith Show, Gomer Pyle, and I Dream of Jeannie.
1970s–1980s[]
In 1970, Rickles had a notable role as Crapgame in Kelly's Heroes, sharing the marquee poster with co-stars Clint Eastwood, Telly Savalas, Donald Sutherland, and Carroll O'Connor. In 1972, he starred in The Don Rickles Show, which lasted for 13 episodes. He also starred in a series of television specials. In his memoirs, Rickles acknowledged a scripted sitcom was instead of well-suited to his ad-lib style of performing, as he had earlier mentioned that he never writes down his jokes.
Starting in 1973, he became a popular dais comedian appearing on The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast specials. In 1976–1978, he starred in C.P.O. Sharkey, which lasted two seasons. The series is remembered for the cigarette box incident when Johnny Carson made an impromptu visit to the adjacent TV studio, during an episode's taping feigning "incensed" ire that Rickles broke his wooden cigarette box, on the previous night's show, while Bob Newhart was guest-hosting The Tonight Show. The incident was often replayed in Tonight Show retrospectives and was considered a highlight of the 1970s era of the series.
Rickles occasionally appeared as a panelist on Hollywood Squares and was depicted in comic-book form by Jack Kirby during his work on the Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen series (part of Jack Kirby's Fourth World).
1980s–1990s[]
In the early 1980s, Rickles began to perform with Steve Lawrence in concerts in Las Vegas. In 1983, the duo co-hosted Foul-Ups, Bleeps & Blunders, an imitation of TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes. In 1985, when Frank Sinatra was asked to perform at Ronald Reagan's second inaugural ball, he insisted Rickles be allowed to perform and do it unrehearsed. Rickles considered this performance the highlight of his career.
In 1990, he appeared in the second-season episode of Tales from the Crypt titled "The Ventriloquist's Dummy". In 1992, he was cast in Innocent Blood, directed by John Landis. In his memoir, Rickles wrote that he recalled Landis was a "production assistant" to Brian G. Hutton during the filming of Kelly's Heroes. During the filming of Innocent Blood, Rickles would kid Landis by ordering him to get coffee or to run other errands befitting his one-time "gofer" status.
In 1993, Rickles starred in another short-lived sitcom titled Daddy Dearest, with Richard Lewis. In 1995, he portrayed Billy Sherbert in Casino and voiced Mr. Potato Head in the Disney film Toy Story; he reprised the latter role in the 1999 sequel Toy Story 2. Rickles starred as George Wilson in 1998's Dennis the Menace Strikes Again; that same year, he portrayed a film theater manager in Dirty Work and voiced Cornwall, one of the heads of a two-headed dragon, in Quest for Camelot.
2000s–2017[]
Rickles made a cameo appeared as himself in a recurring dream sequence in "Sub Conscious", an episode of The Unit, which aired in February 2007. memoir titled Rickles' Book was released on his birthday on May 8, 2007, by Simon & Schuster. Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project, a documentary about Rickles directed by John Landis, made its debut on HBO on December 2, 2007. Rickles won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program, besting several notable comics, including David Letterman, Jon Stewart, and Stephen Colbert. Rickles remarked, "Stephen Colbert's a funny man, but he's too young. He has got plenty of time to win awards, but this may be my last year and I bet that I made it count. On second thought, it was probably a mercy award for an old man." Rickles reprised his role of Mr. Potato Head for the Toy Story Midway Mania! attraction at Disney California Adventure Park, for Disney's Hollywood Studios and in the 2010 film Toy Story 3. He was reportedly slated to reprise his role in Toy Story 4, but died before recording any dialogue. With permission from Rickles' family, Josh Cooley used hitherto unused archive recordings of Rickles for the 2019 film to honor him.
In 2009, Rickles appeared on Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List and met Griffin's mother Maggie to fulfill one item on Maggie's "bucket list". In 2010, he appeared in a commercial during Super Bowl XLIV as a talking rose, and appeared on the 37th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards on CBS TV on June 27, 2010. In 2011, Rickles reunited with his Casino co-star Joe Pesci in a Snickers advertisement highlighting the actors known for their "short fuses." Rickles also portrayed the late husband of Elka (Betty White) on Hot in Cleveland— a "surprise" as his character was thought to be dead.
On May 28, 2014, Rickles was honored by Spike TV's "One Night Only: An All-Star Comedy Tribute to Don Rickles". Recorded live at New York City's Apollo Theater, Jerry Seinfeld was the master of ceremonies for the two-hour special, with live monologues by Johnny Depp, Martin Scorsese, Robert De Niro, Jon Stewart, David Letterman, Tracy Morgan, Brian Williams, Regis Philbin, Amy Poehler, and Tina Fey. Recorded segments included bits from Bob Newhart, Bill Cosby, Jimmy Kimmel, and Eddie Murphy.
He was still a frequent guest on late-night talk shows, including Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, among others, during the later months of his life. On May 11, 2015, Rickles appeared as a guest on one of the final episodes of The Late Show with David Letterman. He also made a cameo appeared in Grandfathered.
Until his death in 2017, despite being impeded by multiple surgeries following a bout with necrotizing fasciitis in 2013, Rickles continued touring across the United States.
Personal life[]
On March 14, 1965, Rickles married Barbara Sklar of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He admitted having a difficult time romantically in his 20s and 30s, finally meeting Sklar through his agent when he was 38 years old and falling for her when she failed to get his sense of humor. They had two children: Mindy Rickles and Larry Rickles. According to Rickles' memoir, his grandchildren Ethan and Harrison Mann are 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 was married.
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 instead of 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.
Rickles performed at the inaugurations of Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush with his friend Frank Sinatra, although Rickles himself was a "lifelong" Democrat.
He considered Bob Newhart to be his best friend, often vacationing together along with their wives, who were also close. 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.
Death[]
On April 6, 2017, several media outlets reported that Rickles died of kidney failure at the age of 90 at his home in Los Angeles, a month before his 91st birthday. Rickles was interred at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery.