But the best TV spot for Don’s talents was the Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts, the grandfather of the Jeffrey Ross/Comedy Central versions of more recent vintage. Everyone from Sinatra to Lucille Ball to Ronald Reagan took turns bearing the brunt of celebrity barbs, and the clean-up hitter was always Don Rickles. Who could follow the Merchant of Venom?
“Don was the only person who they never wrote for on those roasts,” says Starr, noting that an astronaut making fun of a celeb like Nipsey Russell was going to need some help on the joke front. “But they never wrote for Don because he just basically did his act.”
As the years passed, Rickles became a beloved elder statesman of comedy, known more for the cuddly voice of Mr. Potato Head in the Toy Story movies than for his devastating discourtesies. And that may have been in part because his brand of insult comedy no longer flew.