Don Rickles Quotes
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I was 28 when my father died, and I was an only child.
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After I graduated, I tried Broadway, which was difficult for me. It was tough to get a part on Broadway, so I just started talking to audiences at different social gatherings, and little by little I became Don Rickles - whatever that is.
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I call myself an actor. I always wanted to be one.
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When I got out of high school, I wanted to be an actor but was getting a lot of rejections. I was getting rejected by life. My mother, God rest her soul, told me not to quit.
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I ride a recumbent bike for half an hour every day.
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Ninety percent of the people who come to see me are my fans.
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I enjoy mixed audiences, not one particular group. Short, tall, scientists, Jews, gentiles, whatever, as long as they breathe and like to laugh.
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The thing I love about Vegas is that it's a melting pot. It's like working Ellis Island.
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Compared to what some of the young comics use for material today, I'm a priest.
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If something strikes me as funny, I'll put it in my performance.
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I can get an audience screaming in Las Vegas and say, 'Barbara, that was a great show,' and she'll say, 'Would you please hurry up? We have dinner reservations at 9:30.'
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To me, the stand up part in my life is great. I know I can do that. When I get an acting chance, I'm really thrilled.
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I don't say I was the first, because, who knows, maybe there was a guy out in Minnesota doing it before me.
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I used to work over a bar. That was - there was no stage. I stood over a tiny bar. Louis Prima, rest his soul, he worked there. I was the guy that filled in when he was off the stage.
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I've been hot, I've been lukewarm, I've been freezing, but I've always been a headliner.
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The average person pushes an elevator button 6 or 7 minutes before realizing it's not working. I did a study on this, you know.
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It takes many years to be a great comedian.
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My mother was a big influence. She kept pushing me because I was very shy and inhibited. And schoolwork was very difficult for me because I couldn't concentrate. I was failing almost every subject. To this day, I'm not too good at reading a book. But I was the president of my high school comedy group, and they treated me like a king.
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When you enter a room, you have to kiss his ring. I don't mind, but he has it in his back pocket.
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I always rib people, but nobody ever gives me a hard time. I don't know why. Maybe they're afraid of what I might say. There's probably a lesson in that somewhere, but I don't know what it is.
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At 90, I'm still working a couple of dates a month. My mind is very sharp on the stage, so why not? This may sound corny, but I do it because people - young and old - still come to see me, and they're very enthusiastic about my work. They treat me like the Godfather.
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Even when I was in high school and the Navy, I was the guy who could rip somebody, and they'd laugh at it.
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Many, many years ago, I stood on the stage and told bad jokes and did Sophie Tucker as an impersonation, and nobody looked up; and suddenly, I looked down and said, 'Sir, I'm getting fed up with you. Either you watch, or I'm going to suck your neck,' or words to that effect, and suddenly people started to laugh.
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I have a problem, if the light goes on on TV and it blinks midnight, I don't know how to fix it.