Vale: Don Rickles

Veteran US comedian Don Rickles, best known as the master of comedic insults, has died aged 90.

He died on Thursday at his Los Angeles home from kidney failure, his publicist said.

New York born Rickles, who served in the U.S. Navy, made his film debut as a junior officer alongside Clark Cable and Burt Lancaster in the 1958 submarine drama Run Silent, Run Deep.

He went on to appear in a series of 1960s “beach party” movies with Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon and in 1970 played Army hustler Sergeant Crapgame in the wartime caper Kelly’s Heroes, with Clint Eastwood, Telly Savalas and Donald Sutherland.

He got his big break when he appeared on The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson in the 60s, the start of a long association with the show. Rickles said he devised his brand of mockery-based humour because he was no good at telling traditional jokes.

He delighted nightclub audiences, Hollywood royalty and politicians by hurling invective at them, all in good fun, telling Frank Sinatra: “Make yourself at home, Frank – hit somebody.” At the second inaugural gala of U.S. President Ronald Reagan in 1985, Rickles asked, “Is this too fast for you, Ronnie?” Eventually, poking fun at audience members would become a major part of his act.

He endeared himself to an entirely new generation as the voice of Mr. Potato Head in Toy Story and had a dramatic role in Martin Scorsese’s Las Vegas crime film Casino.

Several TV series were short-lived, the most popular of which was the comedy C.P.O. Sharkey, lasting just two seasons. But there were numerous guest appearances on US sitcoms.

Rickles’ last appeared on stage in Las Vegas in late October. But he continued to work after falling ill in February.

“He was called ‘The Merchant of Venom’ but in truth, he was one of the kindest, caring and most sensitive human beings we have ever known,” actor-comedian Bob Newhart and his wife, Ginnie, said in a statement.

Comic actor Jim Carrey tweeted: “Don once begged me for a couple of bucks, then told me to twist myself into a pretzel. Ego slayer! Comic Everest!” Tom Hanks also tweeted a tribute to his Toy Story co-star, saying, “A God died today. Don Rickles, we did not want to ever lose you. Never.”

Source: Reuters