Donald Jay Rickles (born May 8, 1926 in New York City, New York) is an American comedian and actor.
While working in a Los Angeles nightclub early in his career, he spotted Frank Sinatra, and said "I just saw your movie, The Pride and the Passion and I want to tell you, the cannon's acting was great." and "Make yourself at home, Frank: hit somebody!" Sinatra, whose pet name for Rickles was "bullet-head", enjoyed Rickles so much that he encouraged fellow celebrities to see Rickles' act and be insulted by him. Sinatra's support helped Rickles become a popular headline performer in Las Vegas.
Rickles earned the nicknames "The Merchant of Venom" and "Mr. Warmth" for his insult comedy in which he pokes fun at people of all ethnicities and walks of life. Often when he is introduced to an audience or on a television talk show, Spanish matador music, usually "La Virgen de la Macarena", will be played subtly foreshadowing that someone is about to be metaphorically gored. Rickles has said "I always pictured myself facing the audience as the matador."
In 1958, he made his film debut in Run Silent, Run Deep (see 1958 in film). Throughout the 1960s, he appeared frequently on television in sitcoms and dramatic series. In an episode of the 1960s drama series Run for Your Life, Rickles played a distressed comedian whose act culminates with him strangling a patron while imploring the patron to "Laugh!". He also appeared in the popular Beach Party film series. He reported in his memoirs that at a White House dinner, Barbara Bush teased him about his decision to appear in those films: "Was your career really going that badly?" He also took a rare dramatic turn in the Roger Corman film X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes as a carnival barker out to exploit the protagonist.
As his career progressed, he made more and more appearances on television talk shows, making his first appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in 1965. He became a frequent guest and guest host and would make over 100 appearances on The Tonight Show throughout its run during Carson's era. An early Carson-Rickles Tonight highlight happened in 1968, when, while two Japanese women treated Carson to a bath and massage by foot, Rickles walked onto the set. At one point, he decided to play massage therapist to the prone and towel-clad Carson. Rickles leaned over and wrapped his arms around Carson, ad-libbing, "I'm so lonely, Johnny!" Carson broke into hysterical laughter, got up, grabbed Rickles and tossed the suit-clad comedian into the bathtub. Rickles also began making frequent appearances on The Dean Martin Show and became a fixture on Martin's roast specials, which continued until 1984.
In 1968, he came out with the live comedy album Hello, Dummy! which reached #54 on Billboard's Hot 100. That same year he starred in his own 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 also made guest appearances on The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Munsters, Gilligan's Island and I Dream of Jeannie.
In 1970, Rickles had a notable role as the con man Sgt. Crapgame in the hit film Kelly's Heroes with Clint Eastwood. In 1972, he starred in the sitcom The Don Rickles Show which lasted for thirteen episodes. He also starred in a series of television specials. In his memoir, Rickles acknowledged that a scripted sitcom was not well-suited to his ad-lib style of performing.
In 1976, he began starring in the sitcom C.P.O. Sharkey which lasted for two seasons. It is mostly remembered for the cigarette box incident where Johnny Carson visited during a show's taping because he was incensed that Rickles had broken his cigarette box while he was guest hosting. This incident was often replayed in Tonight Show retrospectives and was considered a highlight of the 1970s era of the show.
From time to time he appeared as a panelist on Hollywood Squares:
In the early 1980s. Rickles began performing with singer Steve Lawrence in concerts in Las Vegas. In 1983, the duo co-hosted the short-lived ABC-TV series Foul-Ups, Bleeps & Blunders, an imitation of NBC's TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes.
In 1985, when Frank Sinatra was asked to perform at Ronald Reagan's Second Inaugural Ball he stated he would not perform unless Rickles was allowed to perform with him. Rickles considers this performance the highlight of his career.
In 1992, he was cast in the film Innocent Blood, directed by John Landis. In his memoir, Rickles reported that he recalled the then-unknown Landis being a "Production Assistant" to director Brian G. Hutton during the filming of Kelly's Heroes. During the filming of Innocent Blood, he would sometimes tease Landis by yelling at him to go get coffee or to run other errands befitting his one-time "gofer" status.
In 1993, he starred in another short-lived sitcom, Daddy Dearest, with comedian Richard Lewis. In 1995, he made a return to film in two high-profile projects: a dramatic role as Robert De Niro's trusted colleague in Martin Scorsese's Casino, and voicing Mr. Potato Head in the Pixar computer-animated film Toy Story. He reprised the latter role in Toy Story 2. In 1998 he portrayed a movie theater manager in "Dirty Work", starring Norm Macdonald and Artie Lange.
Rickles continues to be very active on the stand up comedy scene to this day. He is still a popular performer in Las Vegas and has many dates booked through the end of 2008. He has no plans to retire as he recently said in an interview: "I'm in good health. I'm working better than I ever have. The audiences are great. Why should I retire? I'm like a fighter. The bell rings and you come out and fight. My energy comes alive. And I still enjoy it."
In February 2007, Rickles made a cameo appearance as himself in a strange, recurring dream sequence that was woven through an episode titled "Sub Conscious" of the CBS dramatic series, The Unit.
Rickles' memoir, Rickles' Book, was released 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 reprised the role of Mr. Potato Head in the Toy Story Midway Mania! attraction at Disney's California Adventure and Disney's Hollywood Studios. He will voice the character again in Toy Story 3.
