Story highlights Comedian Don Rickles insulted everyone from Bob Hope to Jimmy Kimmel

Rickles died Thursday at age 90 of kidney failure

(CNN) Don Rickles once explained to CNN's Larry King how he became king of the killer insult. And the answer is simpler than you might think.

"To be honest, the insult thing started out of lack of having an act," he told King in 1985. "Many, many, many years ago I stood on the stage and told bad jokes and did Sophie Tucker as an impersonation and nobody looked up.

"Then suddenly I leaned down and said, 'Sir I'm getting fed up with you. Either you watch or I'm going to suck your neck,' or words to that effect. And suddenly, people started to laugh."

And Rickles, armed with a new persona as an insult comic, saw his career take off.

"It seemed to catch on," he told King. "And it went from there and now I'm a very big star and I came on this show as a mercy favor."