George Schlatter, the producer of classic sketch-comedy TV show “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In,” says Don Rickles was the only comic in showbiz who could get away with razzing Frank Sinatra.
“He had a way of saying things and he could get away with it,” Schlatter recalled of the late Rickles to the New York Post in a statement.
“He could tease presidents and first ladies. He could say things to Frank Sinatra that no one could say to Sinatra. He could walk in and Frank would start to laugh,”Schlatter said. “If I needed him, he was always there.”
Friars Club dean Larry King told the paper of Rickles: “He insulted waiters and Sinatra. He insulted busboys and Dean Martin. He didn’t call it ‘insults’ — he was just having a good time.”