sheldonm Posted February 25, 2006 Report Share Posted February 25, 2006 R.I.P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7/4 Posted February 25, 2006 Report Share Posted February 25, 2006 I'll miss those eyes. February 25, 2006 Don Knotts, TV's Lovable Nerd, Dies at 81 By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 5:47 p.m. ET LOS ANGELES (AP) -- 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.'' Knotts appeared on six other television shows. In 1979, Knotts replaced Norman Fell on ''Three's Company,'' playing the would-be swinger landlord to John Ritter, Suzanne Somers and Joyce DeWitt. Early in his TV career, he was one of the original cast members of ''The Steve Allen Show,'' the comedy-variety show that ran from 1956-61. He was one of a group of memorable comics backing Allen that included Louis Nye, Tom Poston and Bill ''Jose Jimenez'' Dana. Knotts' G-rated films were family fun, not box-office blockbusters. In most, he ends up the hero and gets the girl -- a girl who can see through his nervousness to the heart of gold. In the part-animated 1964 film ''The Incredible Mr. Limpet,'' Knotts played a meek clerk who turns into a fish after he is rejected by the Navy. When it was announced in 1998 that Jim Carrey would star in a ''Limpet'' remake, Knotts responded: ''I'm just flattered that someone of Carrey's caliber is remaking something I did. Now, if someone else did Barney Fife, THAT would be different.'' In the 1967 film ''The Reluctant Astronaut,'' co-starring Leslie Nielsen, Knotts' father enrolls his wimpy son -- operator of a Kiddieland rocket ride -- in NASA's space program. Knotts poses as a famous astronaut to the joy of his parents and hometown but is eventually exposed for what he really is, a janitor so terrified of heights he refuses to ride an airplane. In the 1969 film ''The Love God?,'' he was a geeky bird-watcher who is duped into becoming publisher of a naughty men's magazine and then becomes a national sex symbol. Eventually, he comes to his senses, leaves the big city and marries the sweet girl next door. He was among an army of comedians from Buster Keaton to Jonathan Winters to liven up the 1963 megacomedy ''It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.'' Other films include ''The Ghost and Mr. Chicken'' (1966); ''The Shakiest Gun in the West,'' (1968); and a few Disney films such as ''The Apple Dumpling Gang,'' (1974); ''Gus,'' (1976); and ''Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo,'' (1977). In 1998, he had a key role in the back-to-the-past movie ''Pleasantville,'' playing a folksy television repairman whose supercharged remote control sends a teen boy and his sister into a TV sitcom past. Knotts began his show biz career even before he graduated from high school, performing as a ventriloquist at local clubs and churches. He majored in speech at West Virginia University, then took off for the big city. ''I went to New York cold. On a $100 bill. Bummed a ride,'' he recalled in a visit to his hometown of Morgantown, where city officials renamed a street for him in 1998. Within six months, Knotts had taken a job on a radio Western called ''Bobby Benson and the B-Bar-B Riders,'' playing a wisecracking, know-it-all handyman. He stayed with it for five years, then came his series TV debut on ''The Steve Allen Show.'' He married Kay Metz in 1948, the year he graduated from college. The couple had two children before divorcing in 1969. Knotts later married, then divorced Lara Lee Szuchna. In recent years, he said he had no plans to retire, traveling with theater productions and appearing in print and TV ads for Kodiak pressure treated wood. The world laughed at Knotts, but it also laughed with him. He treasured his comedic roles and could point to only one role that wasn't funny, a brief stint on the daytime drama ''Search for Tomorrow.'' ''That's the only serious thing I've done. I don't miss that,'' Knotts said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catesta Posted February 25, 2006 Report Share Posted February 25, 2006 (edited) Crap. The Andy Griffith show is one of my all time favorite shows and Barney Fife was the main reason. The guy was hilarious. This is really sad. R.I.P., Barney. Edited February 25, 2006 by catesta Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Chaney Posted February 25, 2006 Report Share Posted February 25, 2006 (edited) Damn! I was uncomfortably waiting for this to happen and be announced. I had just received season five of the Andy Griffith Show and intended to buy no others once Knotts was no longer a member of the cast. Sure enough, a sticker on the set lists season five as his last. Don Knotts plots a course... Don Knotts fights back... Don Knotts on bravery... Edited February 25, 2006 by Chaney Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robviti Posted February 25, 2006 Report Share Posted February 25, 2006 i love watching those early episodes of the andy griffith show. knotts was essential to the show's success, and it's easy to overlook his comic talents. i feel sorry for younger folks who only remember him from three's company. thanks for the laughter. rest in peace, barney. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catesta Posted February 25, 2006 Report Share Posted February 25, 2006 "A cappella, a cappella"... Well, I don't remember all the words. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clifford_thornton Posted February 25, 2006 Report Share Posted February 25, 2006 I actually didn't know he was still alive up to this point... Sad news, in any event. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aggie87 Posted February 25, 2006 Report Share Posted February 25, 2006 R.I.P.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herb Posted February 25, 2006 Report Share Posted February 25, 2006 He was a great comedic talent! When he was with Tim Conway in anything, I would laugh until the tears came. RIP, Mr, Knotts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 25, 2006 Report Share Posted February 25, 2006 3's company season 6, the '81 season- the very very best in the shows history, is FINALLY being rel. on dvd the 1st tue. in march. and its price is rolled back too compared to the last batch.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GA Russell Posted February 25, 2006 Report Share Posted February 25, 2006 I remember him best as the nervous wreck man on the street interview on Steve Allen. I wish they would rerun those! There's probably no tape available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Chaney Posted February 25, 2006 Report Share Posted February 25, 2006 Archive of American Television Interview with Don Knotts - Jul 22, 1999 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stereojack Posted February 26, 2006 Report Share Posted February 26, 2006 Here are a couple of haikus I found on alt.obituaries: Barney Fife is gone Don Knotts, a comic genius Dead at eighty one On the passings on Norman Fell, John Ritter & Don Knotts: Stanley, Jack, now Ralph Come and knock on our tombstones ...Three's Company, too. I loved Knotts on Andy Griffith - one of the all time great comic characters! Still cracks me up. First saw him on Steve Allen. Never liked Three's Company, but I guess he amused a whole 'nother generation on that. R.I.P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Twizzle Posted February 26, 2006 Report Share Posted February 26, 2006 (edited) He recorded at least one comedy album released in 1961. There were no messages or sick humor. Edited February 26, 2006 by Randy Twizzle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Twizzle Posted February 26, 2006 Report Share Posted February 26, 2006 Here's a Don Knotts profile from 1961 with some questionable biographical details. Did he really do a Western radio show in NYC for 5 years? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Chaney Posted February 26, 2006 Report Share Posted February 26, 2006 He recorded at least one comedy album released in 1961. There were no messages or sick humor. Don Knotts: An Evening With Me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzbo Posted February 26, 2006 Report Share Posted February 26, 2006 Looks as if he did, from the obituary 7/4 posted above: Within six months, Knotts had taken a job on a radio Western called ''Bobby Benson and the B-Bar-B Riders,'' playing a wisecracking, know-it-all handyman. He stayed with it for five years, then came his series TV debut on ''The Steve Allen Show.'' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Chaney Posted February 26, 2006 Report Share Posted February 26, 2006 Knotts also recounts that western stint in the first part of that Archive of American Television interview. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Twizzle Posted February 26, 2006 Report Share Posted February 26, 2006 I should have consulted my "Encylopedia of Old Time Radio" which says that Knotts played "Windy Wales, ranch handyman and teller of tall tales" on the show. The show ran from June 1949 - June, 1955. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 26, 2006 Report Share Posted February 26, 2006 February 25, 2006 Don Knotts, TV's Lovable Nerd, Dies at 81 By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 5:47 p.m. ET "In 1979, Knotts replaced Norman Fell on ''Three's Company,'' playing the would-be swinger landlord to John Ritter, Suzanne Somers and Joyce DeWitt." I hate to nit-pick the AP, but Knotts didn't really replace Fell on Three's Company. Norman Fell was Mr. Roper and Don Knotts played Mr. Ferley. Yes, they were both landlords, but the article made it sound like another "Bewitched" sitcom switch. Oh, I watched too much TV when I was young! AA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ep1str0phy Posted February 26, 2006 Report Share Posted February 26, 2006 R.I.P. (traipsing into the ether) He will be missed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Twizzle Posted February 26, 2006 Report Share Posted February 26, 2006 In January 1958 Knotts got the flu in Havana and his hometown newspaper was on top of the story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris olivarez Posted February 26, 2006 Report Share Posted February 26, 2006 Barney Fife. Bummer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSngry Posted February 26, 2006 Report Share Posted February 26, 2006 Such a part of my youth, first Barney, then the movies. I remember back when Comedy Central used to have B&W Sundays and the old Steve Allen Show was part of the programming. It amazed me to see a relatively urbane Don Knotts. So long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rostasi Posted February 27, 2006 Report Share Posted February 27, 2006 (edited) Not sure if you want to put this in the "Political" section, but I think everyone will have a chuckle with this (yes, it does have to do with Don Knotts): Dubyamovie address edited... Edited February 27, 2006 by rostasi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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