Don Rickles Is an Emmy Award Winning Comedian

Donald Jay Rickles (born May 8, 1926) is an American Emmy Award winning comedian and actor.A rat pack associate and frequent guest on the Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Rickles has acted in comedic and dramatic roles, but is best known as an insult comic.Rickles was born in the New York City borough of Queens to Jewish parents Max and Etta Rickles. He grew up in the Jackson Heights area.[4] After graduating from Newtown High School, he served in the U.S. Navy in World War II on the USS Cyrene as a S1/c. He was honorably discharged in 1946. Two years later he studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and played occasional bit parts on television. Frustrated by a lack of acting work, he began doing stand-up comedy. He became known as an insult comedian by responding to hecklers. The audience liked these insults more than his prepared material, so he incorporated them into his act. His style was similar to an older insult comic, Jack E. Leonard, though Rickles has denied that Leonard influenced his style.

In 1970, Rickles had a notable role as the con man Sgt. Crapgame in the hit film Kelly's Heroes with Clint Eastwood. In 1972, he starred in the sitcom The Don Rickles Show which lasted for thirteen episodes. He also starred in a series of television specials. In his memoir, Rickles acknowledged that a scripted sitcom was not well-suited to his ad-lib style of performing.In 1976, he began starring in the sitcom C.P.O. Sharkey which lasted for two seasons. It is mostly remembered for the cigarette box incident where Johnny Carson visited during a show's taping because he was incensed that Rickles had broken his cigarette box while he was guest hosting. This incident was often replayed in Tonight Show retrospectives and was considered a highlight of the 1970s era of the show.

Rickles continues to be very active on the stand up comedy scene to this day. He is still a popular performer in Las Vegas and has many dates booked through the end of 2008.[9] He has no plans to retire as he recently said in an interview: "I'm in good health. I'm working better than I ever have. The audiences are great. Why should I retire? I'm like a fighter. The bell rings and you come out and fight. My energy comes alive. And I still enjoy it."In February 2007, Rickles made a cameo appearance as himself in a strange, recurring dream sequence that was woven through an episode titled "Sub Conscious" of the CBS dramatic series, The Unit.

Rickles' memoir, Rickles' Book, was released on May 8, 2007 by Simon & Schuster. Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project, a documentary about Rickles directed by John Landis, made its debut on HBO on December 2, 2007. Rickles himself won a Primetime Emmy for this documentary in 2008.Rickles reprised the role of Mr. Potato Head in the Toy Story Midway Mania! attraction at Disney's California Adventure and Disney's Hollywood Studios.He will voice the character again in Toy Story 3.