Don Rickles is an American comedian
and actor.
He was born in New York City, and spent most of his
early career doing stand up comedy, becoming known
primarily as an "insult comedian". It is
said that this characteristic developed when he replied
to the audience's heckles by insulting the heckler
back. The audience liked these insults more than his
prepared material, so he developed that part of his
act. There is a story that while working in a Los Angeles
nightclub early in his career he spotted Frank Sinatra,
and called out "Make yourself at home, Frank:
hit somebody!"
He had been a drama student, and played occasional
bit-parts on television alongside his work in nightclubs.
In 1958, he made his film debut in Run Silent, Run
Deep, and he went on to appear in a number of others.
As his career progressed, he made more and more appearances
on television talk shows, making his first appearance
on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show in 1965. From the 1970s,
he made several appearances on Dean Martin's show.
Recently, he has made a return to film, appearing
in Martin Scorsese's film, Casino, and voicing Mr.
Potato Head in Toy Story and Toy Story 2.
Rickles has for many years also been know as "Mr.
Warmth" (a satirical self-reference to his insult
comedy schtick). Often when he is introduced to an
audience or on a television talkshow, Spanish matador
music will be played (subtlely foreshadowing that somebody
is going to be metaphorically gored). |