Don

Rickles



How many major talents from Hollywood's Rat Pack era are still among us? "I don't know. Maybe go to the cemetery and check it out," Don Rickles offers with a sarcastic smile — a worthy retort from the insult-comedy legend.

At 90, his blunt brand of humor is as timely as ever. (Of Donald Trump, another celebrity who's found huge success in the art of the put-down, Rickles says: "That's his personality. He's that way. I can't tell him he's wrong.") The comic has a schedule packed with shows (he performed two dates in Las Vegas following this interview and photo shoot), late-show appearances (the two Jimmies are good friends), movie roles (he's gearing up to reprise Mr. Potato Head in Toy Story 4) and ad campaigns (he "roasts" a chestnut in a new Best Buy TV spot).

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"What keeps me going is that young people still want to see me, which is flattering and great," says Rickles from the cozy study of the four-bedroom Century City home he shares with Barbara Sklar, his wife of 51 years. He's surrounded by photos of his numerous Hollywood-legend pals, two of whom, Frank Sinatra and Johnny Carson, he credits with giving him his big breaks. It was Sinatra who first spotted Rickles performing in Miami Beach and brought him to Las Vegas in the 1950s; and it was while performing 5 a.m. shows above a Sahara Hotel breakfast bar that an ailing Carson asked Rickles to fill in for him in the big room.

Rickles and Sinatra presented the award for best original screenplay at the 1969 Academy Awards.

He's been packing big rooms ever since — though these days, his improvised 90-minute sets are performed from a stool. (A 2013 leg infection has hampered his mobility, but his mind remains as sharp and hilarious as ever.) Like Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner, he also has a bosom buddy in the business: 87-year-old Bob Newhart. "We've traveled the world together," Rickles says of their four-decade friendship. "Our comedy is apples and oranges — but when we're alone we're the same. I adore him." As for any advice he might have for up-and-comers? "I'd tell them to get a gun and protection. You've got to be nuts to try to do what I do."



— SETH ABRAMOVITCH

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