{"id":189121,"date":"2026-05-07T11:56:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T08:56:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/?p=189121"},"modified":"2026-05-07T11:56:29","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T08:56:29","slug":"don_rickles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/en\/don_rickles\/","title":{"rendered":"They Called Him &#8220;Mr. Warmth&#8221;: Remembering Don Rickles"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>To the end, comedian Don Rickles savored his reputation as an equal-opportunity skewerer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI thought, \u2018I made it. I\u2019m in Hollywood. Rickles insulted me,\u2019\u201d said Academy Award-winning actress Marisa Tomei.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sportscaster Rich Eisen quipped: \u201cThe fact he actually insulted my sweater is something I\u2019ll never forget.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even Rickles\u2019s wife was a target.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe reason my mother always said, \u201cMarry a Jewish girl\u2019 is because life and love is tough enough. She always said, \u2018When you marry [in] the same faith, it makes life a little easier.\u2019 And then I\u2019ve been married to my wife for 51 years, and [my mother] was so wrong. So wrong,\u201d said Rickles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The hits taken by Tomei, Eisen and Barbara Rickles occurred during a 13-episode YouTube series, <em>Dinner with Don<\/em>, consisting of Rickles chatting one-on-one (in the case of director Martin Scorcese and actor Robert DeNiro, one-on-two) in Los Angeles-area restaurants with entertainment-industry figures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese Reminisce With Don Rickles | Dinner with Don\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ebCgfiUI7Vo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Rickles also had a heart and he appreciated others\u2019 humor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In an interview for this article, his longtime manager, Tony Oppedisano, told of a homeless man approaching Rickles for a handout as the latter arrived in a limousine at a Manhattan restaurant. Oppedisano prepared to shoo away the man, but Rickles said, \u201cI\u2019m not Frank Sinatra. I need my fans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rickles handed the man three $100 bills and told him, \u201cHere, go buy a ranch.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When Rickles returned to the car after dinner, the man was prepared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cNow that I have a ranch, I could use some cattle,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rickles laughed \u201cand peeled off another two $100 bills,\u201d Oppedisano said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There you have it: the man entertainer Dean Martin called \u201cThe Master of Malice\u201d and \u201cThe Merchant of Venom\u201d and legendary talk-show host Johnny Carson nicknamed \u201cMr. Warmth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Manhattan encounter occurred in late 2015 or early 2016, when Oppedisano accompanied Rickles on a tour involving six performances and several talk-show appearances in the New York City area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The<em> Dinner with Don<\/em> conversations all were filmed in December 2016 and January 2017. A few months later, on April 6, Rickles died of kidney failure at age 91.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On April 6, 2026, I wrote this article, just ahead of what would have been the centennial of Rickles\u2019s birth on May 8, 1926.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"458\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Roosevelt_Grier_Don_Rickles_Kraft_Music_Hall_1968-458x600.jpg\" alt=\"Roosevelt Grier Don Rickles Kraft Music Hall 1968\" class=\"wp-image-189167\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Roosevelt_Grier_Don_Rickles_Kraft_Music_Hall_1968-458x600.jpg 458w, https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Roosevelt_Grier_Don_Rickles_Kraft_Music_Hall_1968-229x300.jpg 229w, https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Roosevelt_Grier_Don_Rickles_Kraft_Music_Hall_1968.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 458px) 100vw, 458px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">\u00a0Former football player Rosey Grier and comedian Don Rickles in a skit from the television program\u00a0<em>Kraft Music Hall<\/em>, 1968, Public Domain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>I never met Rickles or saw him perform in person, but he\u2019s captivated me ever since my father related, when I was a child, how he attended Congregation Tifereth Israel, in the Jackson Heights neighborhood of Queens, New York, where got to know Rickles as a boy, five years older, whom he described as a smart aleck. I learned only recently that Rickles\u2019s parents, Max and Etta, are buried in the same cemetery as my father\u2019s parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In April 1994, I visited the synagogue for the first time to host a kiddush for the aged congregants on the 50th anniversary of Dad\u2019s bar mitzvah. (He\u2019d passed away a year and a half before.) Along the sanctuary\u2019s back wall, I spotted a stained-glass window whose notation read something like, \u201cIn memory of Max Rickles, from your loving son Don.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"970\" height=\"308\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/DonIsrael-May-14-1978-edition-of-The-Jewish-Week-970x308.jpg\" alt=\"Donisrael May 14, 1978 Edition Of The Jewish Week\" class=\"wp-image-189152\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/DonIsrael-May-14-1978-edition-of-The-Jewish-Week-970x308.jpg 970w, https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/DonIsrael-May-14-1978-edition-of-The-Jewish-Week-300x95.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/DonIsrael-May-14-1978-edition-of-The-Jewish-Week-768x244.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/DonIsrael-May-14-1978-edition-of-The-Jewish-Week.jpg 1013w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 970px) 100vw, 970px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">&#8220;In the inimitable style of comedy for which he is known, Rickles related his experiences in Israel during a trip he and his wife made with performer and friend Bob Newhart and his wife&#8230;&#8221; &#8211; from the May 14, 1978 edition of <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nli.org.il\/en\/newspapers\/jewishweekny\/1978\/05\/14\/01\/article\/42.1\/?e=-------en-20--1--img-txIN%7CtxTI--------------1\">The Jewish Week<\/a><\/em>, the Historical Jewish Press Collection at the National Library of Israel <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In the <em>Dinner with Don<\/em> series, Rickles estimated having appeared 100 times as a guest on Carson\u2019s <em>The Tonight Show<\/em>. I\u2019d watched and enjoyed scores of those spots, and many of his visits to David Letterman\u2019s late-night shows, too. Rickles came across as brash, sharp and witty, and I could lay a slight claim to this huge star who also hailed from Queens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rickles studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in midtown Manhattan and would appear as an actor on television series and movies; he might be best known by younger fans for late-career roles as the voice of Mr. Potato Head in the <em>Toy Story<\/em> animated films. But he attained fame and fortune as a stand-up comic, first in New York and later in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, who riffed, unrehearsed, with his subjects often being the shows\u2019 attendees themselves. Whether the target was a celebrity or Mr. Average, Rickles did it with an edge, a dagger poked verbally, yet somehow affectionately, into someone\u2019s ribs rather than the heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Take this, at a tribute to Bob Hope, who entertained American soldiers at far-flung bases over many decades: \u201cBob, I\u2019m so happy for you. Really. But do us a favor: Get off the air. The soldiers, the navy \u2014 they\u2019re getting tired. Every time there\u2019s a war, you\u2019re right there. They\u2019re fed up; they\u2019re fighting,\u201d Rickles said, speaking over incessant laughter, including Hope\u2019s. \u201cSit in a steam room. Don\u2019t bother people. Everybody made a fuss over you tonight. I\u2019m fed up. I swear. It\u2019s all over, Bob.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"252\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/From-the-December-31-1971-edition-of-The-Bnai-Brith-Messenger-252x600.jpg\" alt=\"From The December 31, 1971 Edition Of The B'nai B'rith Messenger\" class=\"wp-image-189164\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/From-the-December-31-1971-edition-of-The-Bnai-Brith-Messenger-252x600.jpg 252w, https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/From-the-December-31-1971-edition-of-The-Bnai-Brith-Messenger-126x300.jpg 126w, https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/From-the-December-31-1971-edition-of-The-Bnai-Brith-Messenger.jpg 265w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 252px) 100vw, 252px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">From the December 31, 1971 edition of <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nli.org.il\/en\/newspapers\/bbh\/1971\/12\/31\/01\/article\/47\/?e=-------en-20--1--img-txIN%7CtxTI--------------1\">The B&#8217;nai B&#8217;rith Messenger<\/a><\/em>, the Historical Jewish Press Collection at the National Library of Israel <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>\u201cA classic ball-buster, yet charming and a class act,\u201d someone commented online under a video montage that included the Hope appearance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Aiming, as Rickles did, at someone\u2019s attractiveness, weight, race or ethnicity would be problematic in today\u2019s politically-correct era.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHe could make fun of everyone and everything, including himself,\u201d said Oppedisano. \u201cPeople knew Don\u2019s heart, that he was basically a warm and caring individual.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"450\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Don_Rickles-450x600.jpg\" alt=\"Don Rickles\" class=\"wp-image-189173\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Don_Rickles-450x600.jpg 450w, https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Don_Rickles-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Don_Rickles.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Don Rickles permorming in 2008, photo by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/14504460@N02\">Gary Dunaier<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>\u201cYou could always depend on him to be so funny, so off-the-cuff,\u201d said Manuel Basanese, an associate professor at Emerson College\u2019s School of Film, Television, and Media Arts. \u201cHis genius was that he could get away with so much. \u2026 They were savage jokes, they were rough, but he was a lovable person.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mindy Rickles remembered her father being \u201cdefinitely funny at home\u201d and \u201cvery family-oriented,\u201d regularly bringing her, her late brother Larry and Barbara on road trips when he performed in Reno, Nevada, and Lake Tahoe, on the Nevada-California border, where the children frolicked in the snow and enjoyed a duck pond near the house where they stayed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIf I was sitting in the audience, he liked to introduce me. I would get up and wave. It was kind of fun,\u201d she said. Back in Beverly Hills, Don often spent his leisure time watching sports on television. He and his family always attended services at Sinai Temple on the High Holy Days. \u201cHis identity as a Jew was a huge part of who he was. When we went to temple, he knew the prayers,\u201d Mindy Rickles said.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"221\" height=\"418\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/From-the-September-2-1977-edition-of-The-Bnai-Brith-Messenger-1.jpg\" alt=\"From The September 2, 1977 Edition Of The B'nai B'rith Messenger\" class=\"wp-image-189161\" style=\"width:267px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/From-the-September-2-1977-edition-of-The-Bnai-Brith-Messenger-1.jpg 221w, https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/From-the-September-2-1977-edition-of-The-Bnai-Brith-Messenger-1-159x300.jpg 159w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 221px) 100vw, 221px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">From the September 2, 1977 edition of <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nli.org.il\/en\/newspapers\/bbh\/1977\/09\/02\/01\/article\/303.2\/?e=-------en-20--1--img-txIN%7CtxTI--------------1\">The B&#8217;nai B&#8217;rith Messenger<\/a><\/em>, the Historical Jewish Press Collection at the National Library of Israel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><a>In 1977, Rickles organized an event in Los Angeles to raise funds to build a gymnasium in the shul. The evening, marketed as \u201cRickles and His Friends,\u201d featured performances by actors, singers and comedians<\/a>. Sinatra, a close friend and among America\u2019s greatest-ever entertainers, cancelled at the last minute. Years earlier, soon after they met, Rickles went to a restaurant and noticed Sinatra dining there, too. Rickles privately asked Sinatra to stop by to say hello, so as to impress Rickles\u2019s date. Sinatra did just that. \u201cCan\u2019t you see I\u2019m eating, Frank?\u201d Rickles snapped at him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"637\" height=\"529\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/From-the-October-26-2006-edition-of-the-Detroit-Jewish-News.jpg\" alt=\"From The October 26, 2006 Edition Of The Detroit Jewish News\" class=\"wp-image-189157\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/From-the-October-26-2006-edition-of-the-Detroit-Jewish-News.jpg 637w, https:\/\/blog.nli.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/From-the-October-26-2006-edition-of-the-Detroit-Jewish-News-300x249.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 637px) 100vw, 637px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">From the October 26, 2006 edition of the <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nli.org.il\/en\/newspapers\/detroitjn\/2006\/10\/26\/01\/page\/57\/?e=-------en-20--1--img-txIN%7CtxTI--------------1\">Detroit Jewish News<\/a><\/em>, the Historical Jewish Press Collection at the National Library of Israel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>That was Rickles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fifty years after its construction, the Rickles Gymnasium continues to be used almost every day by children attending the synagogue\u2019s schools. The gym was so popular as a venue for men\u2019s basketball leagues that Howard Lesner, Sinai Temple\u2019s executive director until 2021, said he had to restrict players to the synagogue\u2019s members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rickles \u201cwas not a shul-goer,\u201d said Lesner. \u201cBut his father\u2019s and mother\u2019s yahrzeits were extremely important to him. He\u2019d always send a check for their yahrzeits.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Writer-editor Hillel Kuttler can be reached at <\/em><a href=\"mailto:hk@HillelTheScribeCommunications.com\"><em>hk@HillelTheScribeCommunications.com<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a id=\"_msocom_1\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Beyond the barbs and bravado stood an iconic comedian whose identity was grounded in family, memory, and a distinctly Jewish sense of humor<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":450,"featured_media":189122,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_editorskit_title_hidden":false,"_editorskit_reading_time":0,"_editorskit_is_block_options_detached":false,"_editorskit_block_options_position":"{}","footnotes":""},"categories":[216],"tags":[1737,6624],"tags2":[2784,3067,6625],"class_list":["post-189121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diaspora","tag-american-jewry","tag-jewish-humor"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>They Called Him &quot;Mr. Warmth&quot;: Remembering Don Rickles<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Beyond the barbs and bravado stood an iconic comedian whose identity was grounded in family, memory, and a distinctly Jewish sense of humor\" \/>\n<meta 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