1950s—1960s
While working in a Miami Beach nightclub known as "Murray Franklin's" early in his career, he spotted Frank Sinatra and remarked to him, "I just 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 Rickles 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.
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. When he is introduced to an audience or on a television talk show, Spanish matador music, "La Virgen de la Macarena", will usually 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, Rickles made his film debut in a serious part in
Run Silent, Run Deep starring Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster. Throughout the 1960s, he appeared frequently on television in sitcoms and dramatic series. Rickles guest-starred in
Get Smart as "Sid", an old war buddy of Max who comes to stay with him. The two-part collaboration with Don Adams was well-received. In an episode of the 1960s drama series
Run for Your Life, Rickles played a distressed comedian whose act culminates when he strangles a patron while imploring the patron to "Laugh!" Rickles took a dramatic turn in the Roger Corman film
The Man with the X-Ray Eyes as a carnival barker out to exploit the title character.
Rickles also appeared in the popular
Beach Party film series. He recalled in his memoirs that at a White House dinner, Barbara Bush teased him about his decision to appear in those films, and remarked "Was your career really going that badly?"
As his career progressed, Rickles began appearing 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 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 made frequent appearances on
The Dean Martin Show and became a fixture on Martin's roast specials, which continued until 1984.
In 1968, Rickles released a live comedy album,
Hello, Dummy!, which reached #54 on
Billboard's Hot 100. The 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 made guest appearances on
The Dick Van Dyke Show,
The Munsters,
Gilligan's Island,
Get Smart,
The Andy Griffith Show and
I Dream of Jeannie.
1970s—1980s
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 starred in the sitcom
C.P.O. Sharkey, which lasted two seasons. The show is primarily remembered for the cigarette box incident when Johnny Carson visited during an episode's taping because he was "incensed" that Rickles broke his cigarette box while Bob Newhart was guest-hosting. The incident was often replayed in
Tonight Show retrospectives and was considered a highlight of the 1970s era of the show.
Rickles occasionally appeared as a panelist on
Hollywood Squares:
Q. You go down to a brook and you catch a frog. Then you rub it on your face! Just what is that supposed to do?Rickles: That's supposed to put you in the state hospital!
He was depicted in comic book form by Jack Kirby during his work on the Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen series.
1980s—1990s
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 stipulated he would not perform unless Rickles was allowed to perform with him. Rickles considers this performance the highlight of his career.
In 1990, he appeared in the second season of "Tales From the Crypt" in the episode "The Ventriloquists Dummy".
In 1992, he was cast in the film
Innocent Blood, directed by John Landis. In his memoir, Rickles wrote that he recalled that Landis was once a "Production Assistant" to director 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,
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 reprises the latter role in
Toy Story 2 and
Toy Story 3. In 1998 he portrayed a movie theater manager in "Dirty Work", starring Norm MacDonald and Artie Lange.
2000s—present
Rickles continued to be very active on the stand-up comedy scene, and is still a popular performer in Las Vegas with many dates booked through the end of 2009. 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, titled
Rickles' Book, was released on May 8, 2007 by Simon & Schuster.
The Don Rickles Project, a documentary about Rickles directed by John Landis, made its debut on HBO on December 2, 2007. Rickles himself won a Primetime Emmy for this documentary in 2008.
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 voiced the character again in
Toy Story 3.
In 2010, he appeared in a commercial during Super Bowl XLIV as a talking rose.
On June 27, 2010, he appeared on the 37th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards on CBS TV.
In September 2010, he appeared on The Late Late show with Craig Ferguson.
