--- description: The legendary comedian Don Rickles died at his home in Los Angeles from kidney failure on Thursday at the age of 90 title: Comedy Legend Don Rickles Dies at Age 90 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt63b0a92651f2a44c/6988c1c586f68e1c216e4269/don-rickles-fb.jpg?branch=production ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [celebrities](/tag/celebrities/) ## celebrities Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Comedy Legend Don Rickles Dies at Age 90 by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Apr 6, 2017 6:31 PM CUT  Don Rickles on 'The Carol Burnett Show' on Oct. 23, 1970. Don Rickles on 'The Carol Burnett Show' on Oct. 23, 1970.CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images by [Mahita Gajanan](/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Apr 6, 2017 6:31 PM CUT The legendary comedian [Don Rickles](http://time.com/3985288/don-rickles-jimmy-fallon/ "undefined") died on Thursday at the age of 90. Rickles, known for his barbed jokes and celebrity roasts, died at his home in Los Angeles from kidney failure, according to his publicist Paul Shefrin. He would have turned 91 on May 8. Rickles was popular for his nightclub performances and appearances in films and television shows well into his 80s. Notably, he voiced the character of Mr. Potato Head in the [_Toy Story_ films](http://time.com/4485367/tom-hanks-ellen-degeneres-pixar-video/ "undefined"). Rickles was particularly known for his brand of brash comedy style, sparing no one from his skewering jokes. Born in Manhattan, Rickles was trained in acting at the Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. He broke through in the comedy scene after an appearance on The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson in 1965, [_Variety_ reported](http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/don-rickles-dead-dies-comedian-insult-vegas-1202025068/ "undefined"). Rickles is survived by his wife Barbara, a daughter and two grandchildren. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4729567/don-rickles-dies-comic-legend/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4729567/don-rickles-dies-comic-legend/"},"headline":"Comedy Legend Don Rickles Dies at Age 90","datePublished":"2017-04-06T18:31:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:16:26.752Z","description":"He died of kidney failure","url":"https://time.com/4729567/don-rickles-dies-comic-legend/","keywords":["celebrities","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt63b0a92651f2a44c/6988c1c586f68e1c216e4269/don-rickles-fb.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mahita Gajanan","jobTitle":"Gajanan is an editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt63b0a92651f2a44c/6988c1c586f68e1c216e4269/don-rickles-fb.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Funny Face","caption":"Don Rickles on The Carol Burnett Show, on Oct. 23, 1970.","creditText":"CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4729567/don-rickles-dies-comic-legend/","name":"Comedy Legend Don Rickles Dies at Age 90"}}]}] ```