Posted on 04/06/2017 11:50:24 AM PDT by Impala64ssa
Don Rickles, one of the most legendary, iconic and influential comedians in history, has died.
We've learned Don died Thursday morning of kidney failure at his home in Los Angeles. His wife, Barbara, was by his side.
Don rose to fame in the '60s ... he got a huge boost by making regular appearances on "The Tonight Show" and "The Dean Martin Show."
Rickles got Frank Sinatra's attention in Miami Beach when he performed a comedy routine, and the 2 regularly worked together throughout the years.
Rickles was the best insult comic ever, and was a master at roasting celebs at The Friar's Club. Getting roasted by Rickles was a brutal badge of honor.
He started performing in Vegas in the '80s with Steve Lawrence and took the town by storm.
Don had his own TV show, "The Don Rickles Show," on ABC.
He played voice of Mr. Potato Head in the 'Toy Story' movies.
He also was a regular on "The Dick Van Dyke Show," "The Addams Family" and "Gilligan's Island."
That’s it. Thanks.
Ooops...Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci
My favorite SNL moment was once in the 80s he was obviously refusing to read from the script in order to get Joe Piscopo flustered but it wasn’t working. Rickles got so frustrated that he just slapped Piscopo in the face with no warning. Without any hesitation he slaps Rickles back even harder. Then the two of them almost collapsed laughing. That whole episode was great. Today’s SNL isn’t even watchable.
I had the pleasure of working with Don in Las Vegas during the 70s and 80s. He was the nicest and most humble man, nothing like his stage persona. He and Bob Newhart were the best of friends, families always vacationed together. Actually Bob was the most boisterous of the two when off stage. We lost a great comic today
Rest in peace, Don. Thank you so much for all of the laughs. Sympathies to his family and friends.
One of the funniest things I ever saw was when Rickles was guest-hosting for Carson. He was messing with a little box on the desk that Carson had gotten as a gift, and broke it. When Carson found out, he dragged a camera crew on to the set of C.P.O. Sharkey, Rickles show at the time. Needless to say, hilarity ensued. It was so funny that I was crying.
Where’s the next Rickles, to insult the crap out of the hockey pucks masquerading as snowflakes?
That’s a great story.
“Nobody did it better than Rickles.”
Here’s the CPO Sharkey incident: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mj2S2n64DeQ
that was classic.very funny
The classic Rickles-Sinatra story has been told in several obits about Mr. Warmth. I remember The Chairman of the Board telling it on the Tonight Show back in the 70s—and his appearance was interrupted by none other than Don Rickles.
One evening before he was married, Rickles was having drinks with a woman at a hotel in Las Vegas. Rickles’s companion noticed Sinatra and his entourage sitting in a roped off area. When Don told her he knew Sinatra, she didn’t believe him. So, Rickles excused himself, went over to Sinatra’s table, told him the woman was a big fan and asked if he’d come over and say hello.
About 10 minutes later, after Rickles returned to his table, Sinatra ambled over and said “Hi Don, how the hell are you doing?” Rickles replied (in a loud voice) “Can’t you see I’m with someone, Frank? Beat it.”
The room fell totally silent until Sinatra doubled over in laughter. Few people could get by with that sort of prank on Sinatra. Rickles was in that select group.
Until I read his obituary, I never knew that Rickles was a grad of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, where his classmates included Jason Robards and Tom Poston, among others. Rickles turned to comedy because he could never find steady work as an actor.
Was watching start of his CPO Sharkey on Wednesday July 13, 1977 when suddenly the TV picture on the B/W Tv went *poof*. Thought I broke the TV. Soon learned NYC had a blackout and all transmission were down.
For people who only know his stage persona, the true “Don Rickles” is hard to grasp.
I had to explain the whole thing to my sister today, whop only knew him as “The Insult Guy”. Since the whole Catskill Schtick is long gone, it is hard to explain this to people.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=ruins+of+catskil+resort+images&t=ffsb&iax=1&ia=images
“Until I read his obituary, I never knew that Rickles was a grad of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, where his classmates included Jason Robards and Tom Poston, among others. Rickles turned to comedy because he could never find steady work as an actor.”
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Yup. I’m not sure how many dramatic roles he got, but I remember him playing a criminal named “Lyle Delp” several times on “The Dick Van Dyke Show” in the 1960s.
From what I understand it was Sinatra who encouraged Rickles in his comedic career.
Gonna miss him, but a lot of the TV venues he was often seen are long gone, e.g. Carson’s “Tonight”, Dean Martin’s roasts and like classic TV.
Probably the first mainstream comedian who wasn’t PC with his material. There was Lenny Bruce and others, but they really couldn’t do their then risque, and now non-PC, full act on mass media.
Yes. I have heard that expression too.
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