FRIARS CLUB
Comics Toast Mr. Warmth
And Rickle Him To Death
STORY AND PHOTOS BY TIM BOXER
HE comedians who populate the
ranks of the New York Friars Club have long endured beyond their
expiration date. At the club we ask "How old is he?" and the
answer is "deceased." George Burns passed on at 100;
Henny Youngman departed at 92.
Even comedians’ marriages last
forever. Ginny and Bob Newhart have been married
50 years; Barbara and Don Rickles, 48 years.
Newhart has a theory: "I think if you can keep laughing you will
stay together."
I’m no comedian but my Nina
hasn’t stopped laughing since the day I smashed the glass under
the chupah 36 years ago.
After a robust effort to recruit fresh
blood, there is now an infusion of youthful merrymakers swelling
the club’s roster. This mixture of the young and the old was
evident at a recent Friars affair.
When the Friars Foundation, which
supports various charities, presented a lifetime achievement
award in June to the acerbic and insulting Don Rickles—the elder
statesman of the comedy racket—his octogenarian colleagues,
those not tethered to their wheelchairs, found their way to the
Waldorf-Astoria to pay tribute to their fearless mentor.
Among the usual suspects were Tony
Bennett , 86 in August; Bob Newhart, 83 in September;
Regis Philbin, 82 in August; Lewis Black, 65 in
August; Tony Danza, 62; sportscaster Bob Costas,
62; Billy Crystal, 65; and Bette Midler, 67.
Newhart, of Oak Park, Illinois, said
proudly that he started at the Sahara in Las Vegas. Rickles, of
Queens, N.Y., added, "I started on a wagon train going west. "
That prompted Joan Rivers who
turned 80 in June to crack, "This looks like a walking bucket
list." Not to be outdone, Robert De Niro, 70 in August,
remarked, "This is an impressive lineup for the Don Rickles
memorial service."
"I’m only irritated," De Niro added,
"that when I was in Israel celebrating Shimon Peres’s 90th
birthday, I wasted my prayer at the Wailing Wall in Don’s
memory."
At some point during all this
merriment the Friars Foundation chairman Joseph Zappala
and Friars Club dean Freddie Roman managed to bestow an
Applause Award upon Barry R. Feirstein of Feirstein
Capital Management Corporation, an investment management firm. A
Brooklyn College graduate, he’s president of the Friars
Foundation and a supporter of Manhattan’s Center for Jewish
History.
Joan Rivers said she loved to watch
Bob Newhart sitting among so many Jews. "He looks like Sarah
Palin in a library."
Newhart mentioned that he and Ginny
vacation a lot with Rickles. "After that we take a vacation."
On a trip to Israel they stayed at the
King David Hotel. While driving around Jerusalem Don flattered
himself with his keen knowledge of local landmarks. "I know that
building. It’s where they keep Palestinian terrorists."
"No, Don," the guide said. "That’s the
national library."
On the Golan Heights Don was excited
to see a row of tall poles on the mountain. "Those poles are
high so they can spy on the troops in Syria."
"No, Don. Those are telephone poles."
Jimmy Fallon, part of the new
generation of Friars who proved their mettle, proposed a toast.
"Here’s to Don, not for another 80 years, just 40 years. More
than that is just overkill."
Among the celebrities who roasted or
toasted Mr. Warmth were comedians Lewis Black, Kathy
Griffin, Whitney Cummings, Gilbert Gottfried, Jeff Ross, Bob
Saget, Louis CK, NBC news anchor Brian Williams,
actor John Stamos, musicians John Mayer and
Arturo Sandoval, Canadian singer Diana Krall, Brit
singer Talia Storm, singers Natalie Cole and
Loston Harris.
Rickles dedicated this priceless night
of fun to his late Yiddish speaking mama Etta and his son
Larry. Larry was an Emmy Award-winning producer who died
of pneumonia two years ago at age 41.
With a tear in his eye, Don held up
his head and exclaimed, "Larry, Dad was a hit tonight!"
