Personal Life
Rickles has been married for 47 years to his wife, Barbara, who was raised in Philadelphia. The couple had two children; a daughter Mindy, and a son, producer Larry Rickles, who died in December 2011 at the age of 41. According to Rickles' memoir, his grandchildren, Ethan and Harrison Mann, are much more impressed by his role as "Mr. Potato Head" than by any of his other achievements. Although a lifelong Democrat, he performed at the inaugurations of Republican presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush with his friend Frank Sinatra.
Rickles considers comedian Bob Newhart to be his best friend. Rickles, Newhart, and their wives often vacation together. Rickles and Newhart appeared together on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on January 24, 2005, the Monday following Johnny Carson's death, reminiscing about their many guest appearances on Carson's show, including footage of the "cigarette box incident".
Read more about this topic: Don Rickles
Famous quotes containing the words personal life, personal and/or life:
“A man lives not only his personal life, as an individual, but also, consciously or unconsciously, the life of his epoch and his contemporaries.”
—Thomas Mann (18751955)
“In the twentieth century one of the most personal relationships to have developed is that of the person and the state.... Its become a fact of life that governments have become very intimate with people, most always to their detriment.”
—E.L. (Edgar Lawrence)
“The destructive character lives from the feeling, not that life is worth living, but that suicide is not worth the trouble.”
—Walter Benjamin (18921940)