Judd Apatow Fanboys Over Don Rickles

by Shelley Emling, AARP|Comments: 0

Judd Apatow has been obsessed with comedy his entire life. So much so that one of his first jobs in high school was washing dishes in a Long Island comedy club, just so he could catch the acts. He idolized the likes of Steve Martin and the Marx Brothers and hosted a radio show for his school’s 125-watt radio station called the Comedy Club. By cold-calling comedians, he managed to get the likes of Steve Allen, John Candy, and Jerry Seinfeld on the show.

But the 49-year-old writer and producer known for such hits as The 40-Year-Old Virgin never got to meet Don Rickles. As a little kid, one of the first comedy shows he ever saw was Rickles’ routine at the Westbury Music Fair in New York. All these years later, Apatow’s done standup. He’s written films for a wide range of stars. His producer credits start with Garry Shandling’s HBO show, The Larry Sanders Show, and have since gotten almost too long to list. But he admits to being Rickles’ biggest fan and so, over dinner, his enthusiasm shows.

AARP Membership: Join or Renew for Just $16 a Year

What is Don Rickles’ secret dream? What do Jackie Gleason and Lenny Bruce have in common? Why is Apatow the least-liked parent on the playground at his kids’ school? And just who was Totie Fields and why did she carry a prosthesis in her trunk?

It’s all here. And more.