Comedian Don Rickles passed away on Thursday of kidney failure, according to his publicist.
Rickles, who was ironically nicknamed Mr. Warmth, was a practiced insult comic and roastmaster. After lobbing an insult at Frank Sinatra during a set in 1957, Rickles survived and found his stride. The notoriously hot-tempered Sinatra even became his champion.
Rickles was fond of calling people hockey pucks, and his rapid-fire insults did not discriminate. In a 1978 New Yorker piece, Kenneth Tynan called Rickles “king of icebreakers, whose chosen weapon is the verbal hand grenade.”
More recently, he appeared on Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.
Comedians and entertainers have started posting remembrances.
RIP Don Rickles. One of the funniest people that ever lived, you dumb schmuck.
— billy eichner (@billyeichner) April 6, 2017
In lieu of flowers, Don Rickles’ family has requested that people drop their pants and fire a rocket. #RIPDonRickles
— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) April 6, 2017
90 years with Don Rickles weren’t enough. One of the sweetest and most lovely people I had the pleasure of knowing. We miss you already
— Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) April 6, 2017
https://twitter.com/iliza/status/850046004728446976
