Editor’s note: This interview was originally pubished in the Chicago Sun-Times on June 1, 2001, ahead of Don Rickles’ headlining show at the Chicago Theatre. “Toy Story 2” had been released two years earlier.
He’s been called Mr. Warmth and Mr. Personality. He palled around with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. He has “insulted” just about everybody on the planet, from presidents to royalty. And he’s been having a marvelous time of it all.
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For more than 40 years, comedian Don Rickles has been doing comedy his way, on his terms. The 75-year-old doesn’t regret a single insult, he says. The style “just happened” he says, while working in nightclubs back in the late ’40s, where his off-the-cuff lines just clicked with his audiences.
He’s made his mark on television, mostly in situation comedies such as “C.P.O. Sharkey,” and in feature films, most notably “Kelly’s Heroes,” “Casino” and “Toy Story 2.”
But nothing compares to performing live, he says, which finds him on the road 18 weeks a year. He also just signed a two-year deal to perform in Las Vegas at the Wayne Newton Theatre in the Stardust Casino.
Rickles talked about his career and his upcoming show at the Chicago Theatre.
Q. How did the whole “hockey puck” craze get started?
A. Honestly, I can’t really pin it down. I can tell you that when we still lived in our home in Beverly Hills, I had a garage full of hockey pucks. People from all over the place kept sending me hockey pucks.
Q. Did you think Mr. Potato Head (from the two “Toy Story” movies) was typecasting?
A. (Laughs.) That was so much fun to do, especially now that I’m a grandfather and my 2 1/2-year-old grandson Ethan Charles watches the movies all the time. The exceptional animation by Pixar made the characters come alive like nothing before.
Q. At the other end of the film spectrum, what was it like to work on “Casino”?
A. That was very exciting. Working with (Robert) De Niro, what can I say? I mean we had Marty Scorsese, beautiful Sharon Stone, Joe Pesci. I was honored to be a part of it.
Q. Was that how you remember Vegas in those days?
A. Well, they go at it pretty strong in the movie. I wasn’t a witness to any of those kinds of things portrayed in the movie, but I must say that those people who ran Vegas at that time were very, very good to (entertainers). What they did in their personal lives, I have no idea.
Q. Who gave you your biggest break in show business?
A. It was Frank Sinatra. He and Johnny Carson were two very important guys in my life as far as making the name Don Rickles come alive.
Q. What’s your fondest memory of Sinatra?
A. Doing the second inaugural of Ronald Reagan. Mr. Sinatra called me and invited me to perform, and I couldn’t believe it because my humor at the time was still considered to be very politically incorrect. But he went to the Reagan Cabinet and to Reagan himself and insisted. It was such an honor to do that show.
Q. Do you hate the term “politically incorrect,” especially when it refers to comedy?
A. It doesn’t bother me one way or the other because I’m not what I call a “brain comedian.” Brain comedians are very funny. George Carlin, a wonderful artist, or Dennis Miller are brain comedians. They do a lot of brain stuff. I do everyday street stuff, the kind of stuff that the average guy will understand where I’m coming from.
Q. Are you saying you’re not funny?
A. A good way to put it, as my father always told me, is that I’m the guy who goes to the office Christmas party and ribs the boss and still has a job Monday morning.
Q. Are your shows basically the chance for you to have at it with the audience?
A. A little bit. But there’s always a beginning, middle and end to my show. It’s not just a free-for-all. People think that because of my reputation. But really I would say maybe 5 to 8 percent of the show changes from night to night, and that’s only because of the audience and my delivery.
Q. Do you care that you’re insulting your audience?
A. Certainly I care, I care a lot. But, when you get a reputation like mine, of who I am and what I do on a stage . . . anyone that comes to see Don Rickles has a good idea of what I do before they sit down. In comedy, you can’t please the world, but I’d like to get at least 85 to 90 percent on my side.
Q. Is there anything you won’t take a jab at?
A. Certainly, God forbid, if someone is dying. Or if the pope’s sitting there in front of me I’m not going to call him a yo-yo. There are limitations.
Q. Do you give advice to budding comedians?
A. No. They come to see the show, and come backstage, and I listen to them. But I can’t really tell a comedian what to do or not do. You have to have a great deal of luck in this business, because there are a lot of funny guys out there who don ‘t get a chance. But today, they have a much better chance because they have comedy clubs all over the place, and as soon as they’re funny, they get a television series. I don ‘t say this out of jealousy, certainly not at age 75. It’s great for them. They have the best shot, more so than in my day, to become successful.
Q. What was it like playing the lounge circuit in “your day”?
A. In my day we played really low-life places. Right after the war, you know what I mean? Joints with sailors and servicemen, which I was one of. The audiences were not the most sophisticated crowd because when you played these places they came to see the girls, the exotic dancers, not the funny guys. So you had to fight for your life out there and hopefully you got a few laughs out of them so you could keep the job the next night.
Q. Did you ever get into a fight in a club?
A. No, I was never a physical guy. A great talker, and lots of Blue Cross, but no fighting.
Q. What was so special about Frank Sinatra as you knew him?
A. He was just this special person. I had the gift of making Frank Sinatra laugh, from the first day he met me. My mother was a great booster of mine, and good friends with his mother, and she talked me up so much that Frank came to see me in Florida those many years ago. From then on, I always looked upon him, not to sound corny, as a big brother. In the last part of his life we toured together for two years and really got to be kind of close. We all know he had his moments, but when he walked into a room, everything stopped. I think that’s an amazing tribute to give a man.
