For people born in a certain generation, seeing Don Rickles pop up on your TV screen was pretty much a must-see appointment.
Rickles, who was born on this day in 1926, knew how to make the most of his appearances. Some people found his style of stand-up comedy disgusting. Many others, though, laughed until they couldn’t anymore.
Just do a YouTube search on Don Rickles and clip after clip will show up. One of his more famous appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson involved Carson, Rickles, and some Geisha girls. This is in 1969 on NBC after the late local news. So, Carson was lying face down with swim trunks on. He was waiting for his turn at a Japanese bath.
Rickles sneaks up, dressed in a suit, and starts in on the host. Carson starts laughing and cannot stop. Rickles makes like he’s lonely and looking for some compassion. He leans in and starts touching Carson. Well, the host lets this go on for about 10 seconds. Then, Carson gets up and dumps Rickles into a big pool of water…suit and all. Cameras catch Rickles popping his head up from the water, spitting out water while trying to catch his breath.
This entire scene probably was ad-libbed. It brought out a lot of laughter from The Tonight Show audience. Those at home got their giggles, too. Over the years, Carson fans found this clip among the top ones from the show.
Getting His Own Sitcom Never Worked Out
Situations like these made Don Rickles a must-see TV in his career. This should have translated into his TV success, but it didn’t. He hosted several variety show specials that didn’t go anywhere. In the 1970s, Rickles had moderate success with the NBC sitcom C.P.O. Sharkey. It only lasted for two seasons.
Yet his talk show appearances never got tiresome. His times on Carson’s show are legendary. Don Rickles also popped up on talk shows hosted by Merv Griffin, Craig Ferguson, David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel, Jay Leno, Regis Philbin Kathie Lee Gifford, and others.
His film work, especially in Kelly’s Heroes and Casino, deserves notice. Also, an entire generation grew to love Rickles through his voiceover work in the Toy Story movie franchise. He provided the voice for Mr. Potato Head. And yes, he always was a featured roaster on those classic Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts.
But Rickles truly found a lot of success in these talk-show appearances. He played off of the host, who either set Don up for a line or just sat there. Yes, the host could, like, take a timeout and just let Rickles roll.
He had a putdown-style of humor, one that ripped up audience members. Rickles made fun of different races, creeds, colors, and relationship situations. His humor was based on playing off the crowd, too. Rickles learned his craft while toiling away in some Las Vegas hotel front rooms and New York City nightclubs. In Vegas, that’s where acts would play if they weren’t headlining a hotel.
A talk-show setting was a pretty good way for Rickles to present himself. An audience was present along with a host playing along with Rickles. It was all good fun and he never got too coarse with his language.
I don’t think anyone has ever claimed that he presented a “blue act.” That means an act filled with four-letter words and other innuendoes. Think Lenny Bruce and Redd Foxx for examples of “blue” acts.
Every time Rickles showed up on a talk show, the audience knew they were in for a good treat. He never let them down. Don Rickles always had a few lines up his sleeve to share. Now, if you are kind of sneaky in the online world, then you’d check out the dates of Rickles’ appearances. You’ll likely hear Rickles tell the same joke or use the same joke line on two different shows.
Don Rickles Held His Own With Talk Show Hosts
But Don Rickles also had plenty of material to borrow from in his putdown arsenal. He was able to hold his own with different talk-show hosts. Rickles also understood about the different show’s audiences. He wasn’t afraid to use different jokes or laugh lines. Yet one line that might get over with Carson’s crowd just might not work on Live with Regis and Kathie Lee.
Now, if you went and saw Don Rickles at Caesar’s Palace, the Sahara, or the Desert Inn in Las Vegas, then fasten your seat belts. Don would go full-on for two hours, needing a towel at the end to wipe off his flop sweat. He also took time at the end to tell people that this was his brand of humor. Rickles wanted people to know that he held no ill will against any person over their race or identity.
Television talk shows in the 1970s kept Don Rickles, “Mr. Warmth” himself, in the public eye. He was able to keep the host(s) in stitches and still get a promo for his next performance. Rickles was 90 years old when he died in 2017. In the last year or two of his life, Rickles did a few sit-down dinner interviews. They were done with different people – actors, comedians, directors – that Rickles admired.
Getting on talk shows as he got older was still possible. But Don Rickles wasn’t always moving around as gingerly as a younger man would. Still, he’d usually get a helping hand from Letterman, Kimmel, or others to his seat. His mind hadn’t lost a step, much like his comedy.
So, go out on the socials and look up a Don Rickles talk show appearance. Take a look, listen, and observe a comedy master at work.
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