Don Rickles, Legendary Funny Man, Passes at 90

Donald Jay Rickles was born in Queens, New York in 1926, and the world would never be the same. We’ve enjoyed his comedic one liners and denigrating humor for nearly seven decades, and now we say goodbye as Don Rickles, entertainment icon, has passed on at the age of 90.

Don knocked around small clubs as a struggling comedian during the early days of Vaudeville, and if it weren’t for a chance meeting with Frank Sinatra, Don Rickles might have been a shoe salesman in the Bronx. It seems one night Don was playing a dive in Miami and spotted Frank at a table. He gathered enough courage to approach the legendary crooner and insulted him in the way only he could so. Frank was so enamored with his approach, he invited Don to sit and stay a while. That ringing endorsement changed everything.

Don Rickles served in the Navy during WWII, appeared in countless films, television specials and roasts, but it’s the overwhelming loving reaction to his passing that tells you everything you need to know. Don was authentic, funny, loving, endearing, and most of all, loved by everyone whose life he touched.

Don Rickles died of kidney failure in Beverley Hills at the age of 90.

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