Joining the legion of comedy-world figures mourning the death of Don Rickles, Jimmy Kimmel devoted a lengthy portion of Thursday’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! to the memory of the iconic insult comic. Speaking through a quivering voice and on the verge of tears, Kimmel eulogized Rickles, a man he considered a close friend, as “humble, thoughtful,†and extraordinarily generous with postage — the kind of person who paid to overnight personalized, dig-equipped letters to friends. Kimmel also passed on Bob Newhart’s tale about Rickles using his trademark caustic humor to stem a Frank Sinatra ketchup outburst. Ultimately, though, Kimmel let Rickles represent himself, presenting the comedian’s most memorable appearances on the show in a moving, hilarious package.
