The inaugural of Ronald Reagan, with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. And that was the greatest thing. Ronald Reagan and George Bush. That was - I still remember like it was yesterday.
When you enter a room, you have to kiss his ring. I don't mind, but he has it in his back pocket.
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.
Half the battle is that people have to like you before you say one joke, one bit of humor.
Who picks your clothes - Stevie Wonder?
My whole act is off the top of my head.
To my knowledge, I was the first guy really to do what I do. And then later on different comedians started trying doing it.
The highlight of my career was being at the inaugural gala of Ronald Reagan, and I owe that to Mr. Sinatra.
I was sitting in the toilet and I was by myself. I was tired of playing with the roller, so I said I'd better write a book.
Whatever you do to gain success, you have to hang in there and hope good things happen. Always think positive.
When you stand alone and sell yourself, you can't please everyone. But when you're different, you can last.
Show business is my life. When I was a kid I sold insurance, but nobody laughed.
I think if I took therapy, the doctor would quit. He'd just pick up the couch and walk out of the room.
It takes many years to be a great comedian.
I don't do impressions.
It's tough having the last name 'Rickles.' Luckily, my kids handled it great.
I have to have energy because I have a lot of expenses. A couple of cars, couple of dogs and a big estate.
My wife is great. She always goes to the bank to see if the check has cleared.
I've got an accountant who's been with me forty years. If he makes a mistake, he dies.
In our day we went from - we went into saloons. We couldn't cross over like you can today, get a television series and all of a sudden you're a major movie star, you know.
I never went out looking for glory.
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.
I do situations and make fun of authority and life.
I have no idea what I'm going to say when I stand up to give a toast. But I do know that anything I say I find funny.
I'm very shy so I became very outgoing to protect my shyness.
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.
Nobody ever dared with Frank, because he had such mood swings, and you never knew how he was going to react. But I could tell the minute I saw him that he was going to be in my corner.
I have my own gym. When you do jokes and they sell, you get a gym.
You can't study comedy; it's within you. It's a personality. My humor is an attitude.
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.
Bob Hope was totally regimented. I go in and say a line like, 'Hi Bob' and I'd have to do it five times, and then Bob would take me to the writers to say the line different ways. He wouldn't let me ad-lib.
It's very sweet to have people say nice things about you, and I always accept that.
I've never had a written script.
My wife came into my life, and my mother still wanted to be the boss.
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?'
I ride a recumbent bike for half an hour every day.