“Bob and Don”: Newhart and Rickles Really Were A Love Story
“Somebody called me up and they said, ‘Look, Don Rickles is looking for a best friend … and none of us wanna do it. Would you?’ And I said, ‘How long?’ They said, ‘A year at the most’.”~ Bob Newhart
Do you know of people that are so opposite that you can’t believe they’re friends? Maybe you’re one of those? If so, you understand the sixty-year friendship between comedians Bob Newhart and Don Rickles.
If you’re a fan of both, you first told yourself there’s no possible way these two guys are besties. Newhart was a cerebral comic, with two legendary television shows. Rickles lived in the in-your-face, insult lane and everything he tried on tv failed. Never the two shall meet, right? But they and their two wives were an inseparable foursome for six decades.
A new short film, “Bob and Don: A Love Story” details the love between these two legends and their families…and it does it in only twenty minutes.
The clips of the families traveling together and how they react to each other are heartwarming. You also see Bob and Ginnie Newhart sitting on a couch and telling stories about Rickles and his wife Barbara. The two women were also best friends and talked almost every day. Their sons were also best friends. The memories of their two now-gone friends almost brought Ginnie to tears.
Ginnie Newhart died in April of this year at the age of eighty-two. Bob is now the last one standing. He’s now ninety-four and while he’s frail, his mind is still active and he occasionally does some work.
You wouldn’t think six decades of friendship, memories and love could be summed up in only twenty minutes, but Judd Aptatow does that in only a third of an hour. “Bob and Don: A Love Story” is more than a tale of honor opposites attract. It’s a story of beliefs and values from two people you would never expect to share the same thing.
“Bob’s a brainy type of comedian and I’m the type of guy who gets laughs.”~Don Rickles