Posted on 02/25/2006 2:38:42 PM PST by lunarbicep
LOS ANGELES - Don Knotts, the skinny, lovable nerd who kept generations of television audiences laughing as bumbling Deputy Barney Fife on "The Andy Griffith Show," has died. He was 81.
Knotts died Friday night of pulmonary and respiratory complications at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Beverly Hills, said Paul Ward, a spokesman for the cable network TV Land, which airs "The Andy Griffith Show," and another Knotts hit, "Three's Company."
Unspecified health problems had forced him to cancel an appearance in his native Morgantown in August 2005.
The West Virginia-born actor's half-century career included seven TV series and more than 25 films, but it was the Griffith show that brought him TV immortality and five Emmies.
The show ran from 1960-68, and was in the top 10 of the Nielsen ratings each season, including a No. 1 ranking its final year. It is one of only three series in TV history to bow out at the top: The others are "I Love Lucy" and "Seinfeld." The 249 episodes have appeared frequently in reruns and have spawned a large, active network of fan clubs.
As the bug-eyed deputy to Griffith, Knotts carried in his shirt pocket the one bullet he was allowed after shooting himself in the foot. The constant fumbling, a recurring sight gag, was typical of his self-deprecating humor.
Knotts, whose shy, soft-spoken manner was unlike his high-strung characters, once said he was most proud of the Fife character and doesn't mind being remembered that way.
His favorite episodes, he said, were "The Pickle Story," where Aunt Bea makes pickles no one can eat, and "Barney and the Choir," where no one can stop him from singing. "I can't sing. It makes me sad that I can't sing or dance well enough to be in a musical, but I'm just not talented in that way," he lamented. "It's one of my weaknesses
The way Andy treated Opie always gave me comfort as a kid. Have a good life you 22 year old!
As Shelly Winters once said on the Johnny Carson show to George Foreman, "there ain't anybody that young"
Very sad. It's tough to watch the icons of my youth passing away. :(
RIP Barn!
I remember seeing him on the Steve Allen show along with Louie Nye and Tom Poston.
I loved that movie!
Mark
Thanks for the post lunarbicep. We will miss you Barn. The old black and white Andy Griffith show was some of the best TV made.
Thanks so much for that link.
I think I read somewhere's that in real life they were the opposite of their screen characters - that Griffith was the hyper Type "A" one and Knotts was in real life relaxed and laid back.
nearly half the post in his guestbook have been from today. It's been very heart warming reading through them, but I suggest having a tissue handy in advance
The Andy Griffith Show was probably, I dare say, the greatest and most perfect of all tv comedies, and Don Knotts was the main reason why.
True American Hero. This is a loss
I read an interview in the paper years ago about Andy. He admitted that he was really the insecure one and Don was the confident type. "Just the opposite" is how he described it, too. At the time of the article, early 80's, Griffith was getting professional help.
"One of the few shows I'll take the time to watch on television. And I'm 22! ha!"
What on earth does that show look like to a 22 yr old?
It was maligned as fantasy in the 60's 70's even though it represents the world that I and every other kid I knew (INCLUDING many of those maligners) grew up in.
But lately I wonder as I stated above: what must that show look like to people who don't know that Opies world was like most kids.
Good idea - "nip it in the bud".
When Allen asked what the K.(Middle Inital) stood for, he said KABOOM!
You are right--this one got me--post #1456 of the guestbook:
I am a dispatcher for the Louisville Metro Police Dept in Louisville, KY. This morning at 0630 as I was clearing the air at the end I said "Deputy Barney Fife is 10-7 (out of service) for the remainder". This was followed by about a minute and a half of nothing but clicks on the radio from the many officers on duty at the time. We do this to remember fallen officers and officers who retire. It is a sign of respect and honor. From all of us. Best wishes.
Don and Gary Burghof, Radar, had a short series where they were "Security guards" in a public library. I haven't seen that mentioned anywhere. Went to a couple of websites and no mention of it, (?)
It looks like Gary Burghoff was a regular on a short lived
variety show called The Don Knotts Show:
http://imdb.com/title/tt0065289/
Since tonight is the Academy Awards...
See the movie that has everyone talking...
-PJ
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