Don Knotts ("Deputy Barney Fife") has passed away
 

He will certainly be missed. I met him a few years ago and he was super nice. I have a photo of us together somewhere. RIP Mr. Knotts. :(


http://tv.yahoo.com/news/ap/20060225/114091812000.html

Actor Don Knotts Dies at 81
Saturday February 25 5:42 PM ET

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."

I.Loved.Him. Love.
R.I.P.
Plus, he was a Cancer, hurrah.
Seriously, I loved him.




Mini biography

"Don Knotts, the legendary television character actor, was born Jesse Donald Knotts on July 21, 1924 in Morgantown, West Virginia to William Jesse Knotts and the former Elsie L. Moore. He was the youngest of four sons in a family that had been in America since the 17th century.

His first stint as an entertainer was as a ventriloquist, performing paid gigs at parties and other events in Morganstown. He decided to make a stab at a career in show business, moving to New York City after graduating from high school, but he only lasted in the Big Town for a few weeks. He decided to go to college, enrolling at West Virginia University, but when World War II engulfed America, he enlisted in the Army. The 19-year-old soldier was assigned to the Special Services Branch where he entertained the troops. It was while in the Army that Don ditched ventriloquism for straight comedy.

Don returned to West Virginia University after being demobilized. After graduating with a degree in theater in 1948, he married and moved back to New York, where connections he had made while in the Special Services Branch helped him break into show business. In addition to doing stand-up comedy at clubs, he appeared on the radio, eventually playing the character Windy Wales on the Bobby Benson Show. From 1953 to 1955, he was a regular on the soap opera "Search for Tomorrow." Destiny intervened when he was cast in the small role of the psychiatrist in the Broadway play "No Time For Sergeants," which starred Andy Griffith, who would play a large part in Don's future career. Don also appeared in the film adaption of the play with Griffith.

Don's big break before he hooked up again with Andy Griffith was a regular gig on the "Tonight Show" hosted by Steve Allen, starting in 1956. He became well-known for his "nervous man" shtick in the "Man-on-the-Street" segments that were a staple of Allen's show. His character in the segments was a very nervous man obviously uptight about being interviewed on camera. He developed this into the fidgety, high-strung persona that he limned successfully for the rest of his career.

When "The Tonight Show" moved to Hollywood in 1959 with new host Jack Paar, Don also moved to California as a regular. However, he was soon cast in Andy Griffith's new TV series about a small-town sheriff in the role that would make him a legend. For playing Deputy Barney Fife, Don won nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actor five times from 1961 to 1967, winning each time,

He soon tasted big-screen success, starring in "The Incredible Mr. Limpet" (1964), Don cut back his appearances on "The Andy Griffit Show" to concentrate on making movies after signing a five-year contract with Universal Pictures. For Universal, Don appeared in "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" (1965), "The Reluctant Astronaut" (1967), "The Shakiest Gun in the West" (1968), "The Love God?" (1969) and "How To Frame A Figg" (1971). His mid-'60s popularity as a movie comedian began to wane towards the end of the decade, and the contract was not renewed. Don returned to TV as the star of his own variety show, but it was quickly canceled.

During the 1970s, Don had a spotty career, appearing in regional theater and making guest appearances on other TV shows. He eventually made some slapstick movies with Tim Conway for the Walt Disney Co., but it wasn't until the end of he decade that he tasted real success again. He was cast as would-be-swinger landlord Ralph Furley on the popular TV-sitcom "Three's Company" after the original landlords, The Ropers, were spun off into their own series. Since the show was canceled in 1984, he appeared as Barney Fife for a 1986 reunion of "The Andy Griffith Show" and in TV guest spots, including a recurring gig as the pesky neighbor Les Calhoun on Griffith's "Matlock" series until 1992.

He remained busy the next 10 years touring with plays and doing voice over-work for cartoons. Now in his eighties, Don recently provided the voice of Mayor Turkey Lurkey in Disney's animated film "Chicken Little" (2005)."

Aaaw.... :(

We've lost an American treasure.:(
Rest In Peace, Don. The world loves you.

R.I.P. DON, i enjoyed you as mr. furley amongst many other things~

Awwww... darn! Well, I'm glad he's gone on to a better place. The recent Mayberry RFD Marathon got me to looking on the web for some info on Mr. Knotts and when I discovered and was humbled by the fact he was still making personal appearances, I somehow wanted to attend one in hopes of getting an autographed press photo. My brothers and I weren't allowed to watch much TV when we were growing up, just a few shows... Hogan's Heroes, Mayberry RFD and Gilligan's Island. That show and these movies are some of the fonder memories of my childhood... The Incredible Mr. Limpet, The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, The Shakiest Gun in the West. My mom was a big movie buff and always let my brothers and I go to these movies when they came out.

Thanks to Don Knotts for the great memories! :thumbsup: :angel:

I was so sad to hear this. I adored him too; he was such a gifted comedian. RIP Mr. Knotts. :(

I remember him from the Apple Dumpling Gang. So sorry to hear this.:(

Barney Fife is and was my favorite TV character of all times. He was a very funny guy, and I was so sad when I saw this on CNN last night. RIP, Don Knotts. You will be sorely missed, but keep them laughing in heaven. :angel:

Mr. Furley was a favorite.

On the other board I live on, someone said that Furley was a BIG career mistake for him. I thought Furley was just a Barney renovation!