Donald Jay Rickles

Don Rickles (born Donald Jay Rickles; May 8, 1926 - April 6, 2017) was an American stand-up comedian and actor, known primarily for his insult comedy. His film roles include Run Silent, Run Deep (1958), Kelly's Heroes (1970) and Casino (1995). From 1976 to 1978 he had a two-season starring role in the NBC sitcom C.P.O. Sharkey, having previously starred in the ABC variety series The Don Rickles Show (1968) and a CBS sitcom of the same name (1972). A veteran headline performer at Las Vegas hotel-casinos and a peripheral member of the Rat Pack via his friendship with Frank Sinatra, he received widespread exposure as a frequent guest on talk and variety shows, and voiced Mr. Potato Head in the first three Toy Story films (1995-2010).

Rickles was born in Queens, New York, the only child of a Jewish family, and spoke Yiddish at home. After graduating from Newtown High School in 1944, he enlisted in the United States Navy and served during World War II on the motor torpedo boat tender USS Cyrene as a seaman first class, before being honorably discharged in 1946. Intending to be a dramatic Shakespearian actor, he studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, then began to perform comedy in clubs in New York, Miami and Los Angeles. He became known as an insult comedian when audiences enjoyed his responses to hecklers more than his prepared material, and he began to call ill-mannered audience members "hockey pucks."

While working at Murray Franklin's nightclub in Miami Beach, Rickles spotted Frank Sinatra and insulted him, telling him to "make yourself at home, Frank. Hit somebody!" Sinatra enjoyed him so much that he encouraged other celebrities to be insulted by him, helping Rickles become a popular Las Vegas headliner. He earned the nicknames "The Merchant of Venom" and "Mr. Warmth," and won a Primetime Emmy Award for the 2006 documentary Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project. In 2014 he was honored by fellow comedians at the Apollo Theater in a show released on Spike TV as Don Rickles: One Night Only.