Editing Don Rickles (section)

===Mid-career===
[[File:Don Rickles and Louise Sorel, 1971.jpg|thumb|Rickles and [[Louise Sorel]] on ''The Don Rickles Show'']]
In 1970, Rickles had a notable role as Crapgame in ''[[Kelly's Heroes]]'', sharing the marquee poster with co-stars Clint Eastwood, [[Telly Savalas]], [[Donald Sutherland]], and [[Carroll O'Connor]]. In 1972, he starred in ''The Don Rickles Show'' (his second series with that title)'','' which lasted for 13 episodes.<ref>{{cite book |page=38 |title=Single Season Sitcoms, 1948–1979 |first=Bob |last=Leszczak |publisher=McFarland |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-7864-9305-0 |chapter=The Don Rickles Show |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UvE6snvtSesC&q=don+rickles |access-date=February 4, 2022}}</ref> He also starred in a series of television specials. In his memoirs, Rickles acknowledged a scripted sitcom was not well-suited to his ''ad lib'' style of performing,<ref name=latimes_obit>{{cite news| url=https://www.latimes.com/la-me-don-rickles-snap-20170406-story.html| title=Don Rickles, aggressively caustic comedian dubbed 'Mr. Warmth,' dies at 90| date=April 6, 2017| access-date=April 6, 2017| newspaper=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> as he had earlier said that he never wrote down his jokes.<ref>{{cite interview |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-from-the-archives-don-rickles-interview-20170406-story.html |title=From the Archives: A 1967 interview with Don Rickles, the ever-busy insult comic who never writes anything down |last=Rickles |first=Don |interviewer=Don Page |date=October 13, 1967 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times}}</ref>

Starting in 1973, he became a popular [[dais]] comedian appearing on ''[[The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast]]'' specials. In 1976–1978, he starred in ''[[C.P.O. Sharkey]]'', which lasted two seasons.<ref name=latimes_obit/> The series is remembered for the [[C.P.O. Sharkey#The Tonight Show cigarette box incident|cigarette box incident]] when [[Johnny Carson]] made an impromptu visit during a ''Tonight Show'' taping to the adjacent TV studio during an episode's taping, feigning "incensed" ire that Rickles, an ex-smoker,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.maxim.com/entertainment/interview-icon-don-rickles/ | title=Notorious Insult Comic Don Rickles Reveals His Darkest Secret of All: He's Actually Nice - Maxim | date=April 6, 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.ebay.com/itm/373996075841 | title=Don Rickles Laugh in guest spot smoking cigarette Original 35mm Transparency }}</ref> broke Johnny Carson's wooden box, from 1967, on the previous night, while a guest on ''The Tonight Show'', on which [[Bob Newhart]] was the guest host. The incident was often replayed in ''Tonight Show'' [[retrospective]]s and was considered a highlight of the 1970s era of the series.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/17/arts/television/don-rickles-recalls-his-cpo-sharkey-days.html| title=Don Rickles Recalls His 'CPO Sharkey' Days| first=Dave| last=Itzkoff| date=May 15, 2015| access-date=April 6, 2017| newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> Rickles retorted that he would replace the box with an X-ray of Johnny Carson's lungs.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://heavy.com/entertainment/2017/04/watch-don-rickles-johnny-carson-cigarette-box-bit-incident-cpo-sharkey-tonight-show-original-clip-video-youtube/ | title=WATCH: Don Rickles & Johnny Carson's Famous Cigarette Box Incident | date=April 6, 2017 }}</ref>

Rickles occasionally appeared as a panelist on ''[[Hollywood Squares]]'' and was depicted in comic-book form by [[Jack Kirby]] during his work on the ''[[Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen]]'' series (part of [[Jack Kirby's Fourth World]]).<ref>{{cite book| last1=McAvennie| first1=Michael| editor-last=Dolan| editor-first=Hannah| chapter=1970s| title=DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle| publisher=[[Dorling Kindersley]] |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-7566-6742-9 |page=146 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9mmgDwAAQBAJ&q=rickles |quote=In one of Jack Kirby's strangest tales, Jimmy Olsen met real-world funnyman Don Rickles' costumed likeness, 'Goody' Rickles. |url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{cite comic| writer=[[Jack Kirby|Kirby, Jack]]| penciller=Kirby, Jack| inker=[[Vince Colletta|Colletta, Vince]]| story=The Guardian Fights Again!!!| title= Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen| issue=139| date=July 1971}}</ref><ref>{{cite comic| writer=Kirby, Jack| penciller=Kirby, Jack| inker=Colletta, Vince| story=Will The Real Don Rickles Panic?!?| title=Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen| issue= 141| date=September 1971}}</ref>

In the early 1980s, Rickles began to perform with [[Steve Lawrence]] in concerts in Las Vegas. In 1983, the duo co-hosted ''[[Foul-Ups, Bleeps & Blunders]]'', an imitation of ''[[TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes]]''. In 1982, he was in "Death of a Lodger", an episode of ''[[Archie Bunker's Place]]''. In 1985, when Frank Sinatra was asked to organize and perform at [[Ronald Reagan]]'s second presidential inaugural celebration, he insisted Rickles be allowed to perform and do it unrehearsed.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XMNqakiGzw;t=17m33s |title=Don Rickles discussing Reagan inaugural performance |via=YouTube |date=December 25, 2016 |access-date=April 10, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3kJ7VPJnmI | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211102/K3kJ7VPJnmI| archive-date=November 2, 2021| url-status=live| title=Don Rickles performing at Ronald Reagan's 2nd inaugural |via=YouTube |date=March 5, 2011 |access-date=April 10, 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Rickles considered this performance the highpoint of his career.<ref name="insults">{{cite news |url=http://www.dailyrecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070316/ENT09/703160315/1091/ENT |title=Insults still flying from legendary Don Rickles |author=Darrow, Chuck |newspaper=[[Daily Record (Morristown)|Daily Record]] |location=Parsippany, NJ |date=March 16, 2007 |access-date=May 17, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130102091810/http://www.dailyrecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20070316%2FENT09%2F703160315%2F1091%2FENT&nclick_check=1 |archive-date=January 2, 2013}}</ref>

In 1990, he appeared in the second-season episode of ''[[Tales from the Crypt (TV series)|Tales from the Crypt]]'' titled "The Ventriloquist's Dummy". In 1992, he was cast in ''[[Innocent Blood (film)|Innocent Blood]]'', directed by [[John Landis]]. In his memoir, Rickles wrote that he recalled Landis was a "production assistant" to [[Brian G. Hutton]] during the filming of ''Kelly's Heroes''. During the filming of ''Innocent Blood'', Rickles would kid Landis by ordering him to get coffee or to run other errands befitting his one-time "[[gofer]]" status.

In 1993, Rickles starred in another short-lived sitcom titled ''[[Daddy Dearest]]'', with [[Richard Lewis (comedian)|Richard Lewis]]. In 1995, he played Billy Sherbert in the Universal Pictures film ''[[Casino (1995 film)|Casino]]'' and voiced Mr. Potato Head in the Disney and Pixar film ''[[Toy Story]].'' He reprised his role as Mr. Potato Head in ''[[Toy Story 2]]'' (1999).<ref>{{cite news| url=https://variety.com/2017/tv/news/don-rickles-dead-dies-comedian-insult-vegas-1202025068/| title=Don Rickles, Legendary Insult Comic, Dies at 90| first=Richard| last=Natale| date=April 6, 2017| newspaper=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]| access-date=February 4, 2022}}</ref> Rickles starred as [[George Everett Wilson|George Wilson]] in 1998's ''[[Dennis the Menace Strikes Again]]''; that same year, he portrayed a film theater manager in ''[[Dirty Work (1998 film)|Dirty Work]]'' and voiced Cornwall, one of the heads of a two-headed dragon, in ''[[Quest for Camelot]]''. In 1999, he briefly appeared in a fictionalized form in ''[[The Simpsons]]'' episode "[[Viva Ned Flanders]]".