Rickles Recollects | Recollections of Rickles (Pt. 2)
Rescued from NewsReviewsInterviews - Original run date: April 7, 2017
WARNING: If you haven’t yet read Pt. 1 of this piece, then you’re going to want to do that, since I was following a chronological order as I went through Don’s career with him. I’m not saying you can’t read them in reverse order, but you’re only ruining the experience for yourself.
You’ve been warned.
How do you look back on your episode of The Twilight Zone?
Rickles: Ah, yeah, [with] Burgess Meredith. It was great. I thought it was damned good. I had a lot of fun doing that, too. It was good fun.
You also did an episode of Run for Your Life.
With Ben Gazzara! Yeah, that was a very dramatic part. Working with Ben was great, and I was playing the heavy then. It was great that they could see me in that kind of a role. You know, another one that I did where I was the heavy was with Ray Milland: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes. [Laughs.] So when I think about it, I had a pretty good circle of shows and films to do. I did Wagon Train, and I did F Troop, with Forrest Tucker. That was the first time I’d ever gotten on a horse! I played a chief in that. As I’m talking to you, I’m going, “Man, I did a lot of stuff!”
Including The Dick Van Dyke Show.
Where I held them up in an elevator. [Laughs.] Lyle Delp, that was my name in that, and I held Mary and Dick up in an elevator. Dick still talks about that. You know, when they talk about shows like that, it’s kind of nice, because it brings memories of fun.
I’m talking to your buddy Bob Newhart for this piece.
Rickles: I never liked him.
That’s what I hear.
[Laughs.] God bless him. We’ve traveled the world together. Here we are, two American kids from two different worlds, and we became great friends. A lot of it had to do with the wives, as I say in my shows. His wife and my wife are almost like sisters. But Bob and I have had some great times together. We first crossed paths when I was working in Vegas, and Ginnie, his wife, was there with Bob, visiting. Ginnie said to Bob, “Why don’t we go and see Don? He’s working here at the Sahara Hotel.” He says, “Oh, okay.” And she said, “He’s very nice. He’s wonderful. You’re going to enjoy him.” And the joke was, he came in and sat in the front, and I said, “Here’s Bob Newhart and his wife, Ginnie, a hooker from Detroit.” And he said, “Jesus Christ, you told me he was going to be nice!” [Laughs.] But Bob got a kick out of it.
I also talked to Fred Dryer, from Hunter.
Rickles: Oh, yeah, the football player.
Well, you’ll be pleased to know that he had nothing but fond memories of working with you.
Oh, he remembers me? Well, how do you like that? Isn’t that funny? I haven’t seen that man in, God, I can’t even remember when. Isn’t that nice, that he’d still talk so well about me.
The last time you had a TV series of you own was when you did Daddy Dearest for FOX.
Rickles: Boy, you really checked me out, didn’t you? [Laughs.] God love you.
Richard Lewis said that the show would’ve been huge if it had been as funny as its outtakes.
That’s what a lot of people involved in the show have said. But Richard was fun to work with. When they said, “Cut,” I always kidded around, and some of the stuff came out really funny. I got a big kick out of that.
Outside of sitcoms, you made a big name for yourself on the celebrity roast circuit.
Rickles: Oh, yeah, with Dean, Frank, Sammy, and so forth. They were always so fun for me. There’s one in particular, the Jerry Lewis one. It wasn’t so much about Jerry as it was the people who were there. Not to be too egotistical, but I thought I was very funny on that. If you haven’t seen it, you’ll have to look at it. I mean, if I start laughing, then you know it’s pretty good! [Laughs.]
Sinatra was another hero to me. Frank was great to me. I went out with him for the last two years of his life, and we had great fun. He treated me like a kid brother. He was terrific.
Are you ever surprised when someone is shocked by something you’ve said?
Well, unless they live under a rock, you’d think they’d get the idea by now. [Laughs.] My father, rest his soul, was a salesman, and he taught me something which, as a writer, I’m sure you already know: when you’re selling yourself, you can’t please everybody. When I started out, they used to stare at me in the tough joints that I worked, and eventually, little by little, they started to say, “That’s funny!” And now today, young people are coming to see me, which I’m thrilled about. Now, when I say “young,” I mean 22, 23, 24, 25. But they’re big supporters of mine, and that makes me feel real good at my age.
You’re truly multigenerational: I’ve got a 10-year-old daughter, and I was able to use the frame of reference that “Daddy’s talking to Mr. Potato Head today.”
Hey, my grandchildren get a kick out of that, too! [Laughs.]
I mentioned that Daddy Dearest was your last series, but it almost wasn’t: you did a pilot in 2005 called The Catch that was created by J.J. Abrams but ultimately wasn’t picked up.
That’s funny you say that, because I still keep in touch with J.J., and I just got a note from him. He said, “This is a can’t-miss, Don. We’re gonna roll with this! This is definitely a hit!” [Laughs.] They didn’t pick it up, but it was an hour show, and I was a bounty hunter or something. J.J.’s a great creator and a damned good director, but because it didn’t make it, I always rib him about it.
Do you ever look back with regret at your series that only lasted for a single season or find yourself wishing that CPO Sharkey had gone longer?
You know, it’s the old story: it wasn’t to be. But I can’t complain. At all. I’ve got a wonderful wife of 50 years, that’s pretty good. I’ve got wonderful grandchildren and a wonderful daughter. Unfortunately, I lost my son, rest his soul, but otherwise God’s been good to me. I’ve never been in trouble. I’ve never been into dope or anything like that. And I’m really proud of the fact that… Not that the other guys don’t deserve applause, because people laugh at it, but I’ve never done anything off-color. Never. If you’ve ever seen my act, I’ve never said anything that’s off-color. I’m actually kind of proud of that. Today there’s lot that “Up Your Kazoo” stuff.
Was it frustrating that TV writers so rarely managed to find your voice?
Well, yeah, that was always the problem. I said, “No, no, no, if a guy comes and submits something to me, they’ve got to try to say things that I would say.” But then it’d end up being, “No, no, I don’t say it like that.” It has to be me saying it. That’s why writers and I have never been able to make it run smoothly: I always had to inject myself into it. Not because I was egotistical, but…it’s all about your attitude. If I’m talking to you and I say, “I’ve got to be very honest: this is annoying doing your show,” well, we’re on the phone, so you haven’t seen my expression when I’m saying that. But if you were sitting next to me, you’d laugh, because it’s the way I say things and how I say them. That’s been a good gift for me.
Nowadays people might call some of your material politically incorrect? Does that bother you?
Not anymore. Not today. When I first started, I had cancel-itis. My mother, rest her soul, used to sit outside of the club in the car, waiting to take me home. She used to sit in the kitchen at these joints and tell the owner how great I was, and they were staring at me. But I worked a lot of tough places in those days, doing what I do. It was dangerous. But that’s what got me there, you know? I believed in it. And I just kept on going.
BONUS RICKLES STORIES FROM PAST INTERVIEWS:
Kevin Pollak:
“The best part of [Casino] may have been that Don Rickles was in the film. Because to watch him on the set go after DeNiro…? I’m not sure there’s anything greater in life. DeNiro, of course, walks on the set, every sphincter tightens. I’m not sure there’s more respect or regard for an actor. There certainly wasn’t when we shot the film. So you see DeNiro walk on the set, sphincters tighten, ‘There he is, there he is,’ that kind of respect. And Rickles…? Not impressed.
“It’s the middle of the scene, cameras are rolling, Scorsese is watching, DeNiro is standing next to him on the casino floor, middle of the shot, DeNiro is saying his dialogue, and Rickles would rip into him. He’d turn to him and say, ‘Is that the way you’re gonna do it? Like that…? Oh, no, you’ve got the awards, I’m sure you know what you’re doing. G’head.’ And to see DeNiro cry from laughter, y’know, it was ridiculous. It was magical. DeNiro loved it. Pesci? Not so much. No, Joe did not appreciate when Rickles pointed out that Joe was so short that he was gonna ride him around the set like a Shetland pony…”
Bob Saget:
I’m curious: does one actually direct Don Rickles, or do they just let him loose?
Bob Saget: I got in trouble for that [on Dirty Work]. He’s a dear friend of mine now, and we’re very close. I really love him. It’s hard not to. But I’d turned two cameras on him and just let him talk, and I said that we’d just cut it together afterward. And everybody got mad at me. The editor, George Folsey, said, “Ah, I can make something out of it.” But I always knew he could make something out of it. I mean, you shoot two hours of straight footage of a man riffing for a two-minute monologue, you’re going to wind up with something as long as you can get his hands and his energy to match. And George Folsey’s a masterful editor and was able to do it. But I got in trouble. I shot the entire week’s budget of film that day shooting Don Rickles, and I got in trouble.
But wasn’t it worth it for you, ultimately, just to watch him?
Oh, I love him. Love him. My dear friends Jeff Garlin and Jeff Ross…for Jeff Garlin’s birthday, we asked him what he wanted, and he said, “I want you and Jeff Ross to come with me to Vegas to see Don Rickles.” And I’ve become friends with Don through (John) Stamos, who’s very close with him, so I’ve gone and seen him many times in New Orleans or Vegas or wherever I can. And we just sat and watched him, then we went back and kissed his ring ‘cause he’s just so…I mean, it’s Don Rickles. There’s just no one like that. And, yeah, I was really reverential about it…and there’s a lot of nice footage of him saying what a piece of crap I am. (Laughs) He went on Jay Leno’s show, and he said, “Yeah, I’ve had a great career. I’ve had two directors: Martin Scorsese and Bob Saget. Yeah, I’m really doing great.” That’s how he went on to promote “Dirty Work”! But he’s one of the dearest people in my life.