Editing Don Rickles (section)

== Personal life ==
On March 14, 1965, Rickles married Barbara Sklar of Philadelphia. He admitted to having a difficult time romantically in his 20s and 30s, meeting Sklar through his agent when he was 38 years old and falling for her when she failed to get his sense of humor.<ref>{{cite magazine| url=http://www.mensjournal.com/magazine/don-rickles-survival-skills-20130826| title=Don Rickles's Life Advice| magazine=[[Men's Journal]]| access-date=April 6, 2017| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170407025311/http://www.mensjournal.com/magazine/don-rickles-survival-skills-20130826| archive-date=April 7, 2017| url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine| url=https://www.milwaukeemag.com/don-rickles-exclusive-interview/| title=Don Rickles Exclusive Interview| first=Jimmy| last=McDonough| date=August 9, 2016| magazine=[[Milwaukee Magazine]]| access-date=April 6, 2017}}</ref> They had two children: Mindy, an actress, and [[Larry Rickles|Larry]], a producer who died of [[pneumonia]] at the age of 41.<ref name=thr>{{cite news| first=Mike| last=Barnes| title=Don Rickles' Only Son Dies at 41, Larry Rickles earned an Emmy Award for a 2007 documentary about his dad |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/don-rickles-son-dies-at-270157| newspaper=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]| date=December 6, 2011| access-date=December 20, 2011}}</ref> According to Rickles's memoir, his grandchildren Ethan and Harrison Mann were much more impressed by his role as Mr. Potato Head than by any of his other achievements. Barbara died from [[non-Hodgkin lymphoma]] on March 14, 2021, exactly 56 years after the couple married.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/17/arts/television/barbara-rickles-dead.html| title=Barbara Rickles, Comedian's Wife and Target, Dies at 84| agency=[[Associated Press]]| newspaper=The New York Times| date=March 17, 2021| accessdate=March 20, 2021}}</ref><ref name=hi>{{cite news| url=https://apnews.com/article/don-rickles-barbara-sklar-bob-saget-c3fdb37360c6c548f0f7892bb441950| title=Barbara Rickles, widow of comedian Don Rickles, dies at 84 | agency=[[The Associated Press]]| date=March 15, 2021| first=Hillel| last=Italieap}}</ref>

Rickles befriended mobster "Crazy" [[Joe Gallo]] following a performance at the [[Copacabana (nightclub)|Copacabana]] in 1972. Gallo, whom Rickles had ribbed mercilessly during his set, despite being warned not to do so, accepted Rickles's ribbings in good humor and invited him to [[Umberto's Clam House]] after the show. Rickles declined the offer. That night, a gunfight erupted at Umberto's, [[Joe_Gallo#Murder|killing Gallo]].<ref>{{cite news| first=Don| last=Paul| url=http://buffalonews.com/2017/06/28/from-thugs-to-thunderstorms-the-don-paul-story/| title=From Thugs to Thunderstorms: the Don Paul story| newspaper=[[The Buffalo News]]| date=June 28, 2017| access-date=June 28, 2017}}</ref> This situation was dramatized in the movie ''[[The Irishman]]''.

Rickles performed at the inaugurations of [[Ronald Reagan]] and [[George H. W. Bush]] with his friend Frank Sinatra,<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Stein |first=Joel |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101991213-35479,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080925065312/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101991213-35479,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=September 25, 2008 |title=Don Rickles |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |date=December 5, 1999 |access-date=May 19, 2015}}</ref> although Rickles himself was a lifelong [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]].<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2017/04/06/don-rickles-dies-90/100127122/| title=Master of the insult: Comedian Don Rickles dies at 90| newspaper=[[USA Today]]| date=April 6, 2017| first=Gary| last=Levin}}</ref> He considered [[Bob Newhart]] his best friend, and the two often vacationed together along with their wives, who were also close.<ref name="huffpo">{{cite news |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/04/aarp-convention-2013_n_3383576.html |title=AARP Convention 2013 Brings Don Rickles And Bob Newhart Together for the First Time |date=June 4, 2013 |journal=[[HuffPost]] |access-date=October 20, 2016 |author=Emling, Shelley}}</ref> 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. The two also appeared together on the television sitcom ''[[Newhart]]'' and for previous episodes of ''The Tonight Show'', where Newhart or Rickles were guest hosts. The friendship was memorialized in ''Bob & Don: A Love Story'', a 2023 short documentary film by [[Judd Apatow]] featuring interviews with and home movies of both families.<ref name=hi/><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/judd-apatows-bob-and-don-a-love-story| title=Judd Apatow's ''Bob and Don: A Love Story'': Watch a short film about the lifelong friendship between Bob Newhart and Don Rickles, who were not an obvious match| magazine=[[The New Yorker]]| date=November 27, 2023| first=Bruce| last=Handy}}</ref>