Whirl With Merle

The King of Zing, from Queens: A Don Rickles Tribute
SUNDAY, JUNE 11
A Queens kid, the late Don Rickles (1926–2017) was a comedy titan. Raised by Jewish parents in Jackson Heights—“my father was born in Russia and came here when he was three with a gun, a grenade, and a picture of Stalin in his pants” and “my mother was a very strong woman—a Jew Patton”—young Donald J. went to Newport High School in Elmhurst where he was president of both his class and the drama society, enlisted in the Navy during WWII and was stationed in the Philippines. After the war he enrolled at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and studied alongside Jason Robards, Anne Bancroft, and Grace Kelly, and moved to comedy when a mentor told him to stop chewing up the scenery but “never lose that energy.” In honor of the late comedian, the Museum presents a day-long tribute kicking off with John Landis’s Mr. Warmth, The Don Rickles Project, featuring interviews with Martin Scorsese, Clint Eastwood, Chris Rock, Bob Newhart, Sarah Silverman, and many others and rare footage of Rickles doing stand-up and home movies. This will be followed by a screening of Kelly’s Heroes.  Organized by Gabriele Caroti, with Chief Curator David Schwartz and Associate Film Curator Eric Hynes. 

Gabriele Caroti will talk with us.