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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.
Don Rickles -
The highlight of my career was being at the inaugural gala of Ronald Reagan, and I owe that to Mr. Sinatra.
Don Rickles
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Once in a while, when I'm alone, I think about my age. I think, 'How many more years do I have on this earth?' But I can't really conceive of dying.
Don Rickles -
I write my own tweets.
Don Rickles -
I have a problem, if the light goes on on TV and it blinks midnight, I don't know how to fix it.
Don Rickles -
I was a mother's boy.
Don Rickles -
You can't study comedy; it's within you. It's a personality. My humor is an attitude.
Don Rickles -
I mean, in my - and I'm not trying to do spilled milk, but in those days it was a little - I think it was much tougher, because you got an image, and you were in a saloon. And it was tough to come out of a saloon and to get in films, and to maintain an image, you know.
Don Rickles
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Among my friends, I'm not a little Boy Scout, and they love my humor, thank God.
Don Rickles -
Famous people are deceptive. Deep down, they're just regular people. Like Larry King. We've been friends for forty years. He's one of the few guys I know who's really famous. One minute he's talking to the president on his cell phone, and then the next minute he's saying to me, 'Do you think we ought to give the waiter another dollar?'
Don Rickles -
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.
Don Rickles -
I used to play golf. I wanted to be a better player, but after a while, I realized I'd always stink. And that's when I really started to enjoy the game.
Don Rickles -
If I have learned anything, it is to keep my wife happy by sending her lavish gifts. Other men can learn from my success and send their wives and girlfriends fresh flowers for birthdays, anniversaries, and of course, Valentine's Day.
Don Rickles -
I don't walk into a dinner party and say, 'You're an idiot; give me my coat.'
Don Rickles
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An 'insult comic' is the title I was given. What I do is exaggeration. I make fun of people, at life, of myself and my surroundings.
Don Rickles -
Italians are fantastic people, really. They can work you over in an alley while singing an opera.
Don Rickles -
Now when I'm not working, I don't really hang out with the young comics.
Don Rickles -
I'm a New Yorker, originally. I was raised in Jackson Heights. I went to P.S. 148 and then Newtown High School. If World War II didn't come, I'd still be there in school. World War II saved me.
Don Rickles -
It's very sweet to have people say nice things about you, and I always accept that.
Don Rickles -
I like to think I'm like the guy who goes to the office Christmas party Friday night, insults some people, but still has his job Monday morning.
Don Rickles
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Compared to what comics say today, I'm a monk, but in those days, it was unheard of to make fun of people like I did. Of course, they exaggerated how outrageous I really was.
Don Rickles -
When you do comedy, you can't please the world, although I'd like to think that most of my audiences were on my side.
Don Rickles -
I'd like to think my performance is today. I never try to - it's so, as you know, watching me, I have a beginning, middle and ending. But every night the show changes and I relate to an audience and I relate to the young people.
Don Rickles -
I did a picture 40 years ago with Carroll O'Connor and Telly Savalas, God rest their souls, and Clint Eastwood, called 'Kelly's Heroes,' which we filmed in Yugoslavia for six months.
Don Rickles