DON RICKLES

Written by Michael Darvell
 

(8 May 1926 - 6 April 2017)

Don Rickles

The American stand-up comedian Don Rickles joined the US Navy after high school and served in World War II. After discharge he studied acting but took up comedy instead, becoming known as an ‘insult comic’ who would send up his audience, earning the name The Merchant of Venom. He made his film debut in Run Silent, Run Deep (1958), with Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster, followed by The Rabbit Trap, The Rat Race, The Man With X-Ray Eyes, Beach Party and its sequels, Enter Laughing, The Money Jungle, Kelly’s Heroes, Innocent Blood, Casino, Dirty Work, Quest for Camelot and Toy Story and its sequels (voicing Mr Potato Head) plus a few others along the way. Most of his career outside of stand-up in Las Vegas was spent on TV in The Thin Man, The Twilight Zone, Wagon Train, The Addams Family, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Burke’s Law, The Beverly Hillbillies, The Munsters and various chat shows. He was married to Barbara Sklar and they had two children.

MICHAEL DARVELL

 
Michael Darvell

Michael Darvell trained as a librarian at Watford and in Surrey before joining Ealing Libraries where he became Music Librarian for the borough. He edited Masthead, the magazine of the University of North London School of Librarianship, The Surrealist, the staff magazine of Surrey County Library, and contributed to the Assistant Librarian and London Librarian professional journals. A freelance film reviewer since 1970, he has written for Film, Films Illustrated, Film Review, Movie Maker and Radio Times, as well as editing Montage, the London film societies magazine, for ten years. A change of career saw him joining What’s On in London as Features Editor and he eventually stepped into the shoes of the late F. Maurice Speed (founding father of Film Review annual) as the magazine’s Editor. From 2007 to 2015, he was co-editor of the Film Review annual with Mansel Stimpson. As well as writing about films, Michael has reviewed theatre for The Stage newspaper, and has written about music theatre and cabaret for the Classical Source and Musical Theatre Review websites. He is also a former restaurant critic for the ViewLondon website. Michael has been a member of the London Film Critics’ Circle since 2005.

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