Howard Stern Recalls His Best Don Rickles Memories on The Howard Stern Show (Listen)

Today on The Howard Stern Show, Howard Stern remembered comedian Don Rickles, who passed away last week.

Over the past several years, Howard has spent a lot of time with Don Rickles, and he decided that a good way to memorialize his passing was with a mini-tribute on the show.

Howard talked a lot about what drove Don Rickles, and how it was important for Rickles to be remembered -- not just by the other comedians of his time -- but by younger people.

According to Howard, that was a reason why he continued to work so hard, even very late in his life. (How much money did Don Rickles make in his career? Check out our article here.)

During today's Howard Stern Show, Howard recalled the times he was able to be on stage with Rickles, and how Rickles was extremely nice to him.

For example, Howard was asked to be on one of David Letterman's final shows with Rickles. You can hear what he had to say about that experience below:

Howard Stern Explains How He Got to Know Don Rickles

Much of Howard Stern's connection to Don Rickles was through Jimmy Kimmeel. Years ago, Howard was invited to a party hosted by Kimmel, because Kimmel knew how much he wanted to meet Rickles.

Howard said that talked for hours with Rickles, and he'd never be bored. Over time, he got to know Rickles extremely well, and they became very good friends.

Here's the clip of Howard Stern discussing Kimmel and Rickles:

But Don Rickles was more to Howard than just a friend. For many years, while Howard wasn't doing so well -- before his career had blown up -- hearing Rickles was something of a panacea to him.

In fact, Howard said that he would never have imagined having a chance to meet Rickles when he was younger. When Howard finally did meet Rickles, it was a huge honor.

Howard also admitted that he would get jealous of other famous people who got to spend time with Don Rickles.

He said that when he saw John Stamos with Rickles, he would ask "why is he with Stamos instead of me?"

In the end, Howard said that he learned a lot from Rickles, including confidence.

He says that even when he was scared to be on air, he would think of the courage that Rickles had, and it would get him through the fear.

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