Don Knotts, who kept generations of TV audiences laughing as bumbling Deputy Barney Fife on "The Andy Griffith Show" and would-be swinger landlord Ralph Furley on "Three's Company," has died. He was 81.
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 Bee makes pickles no one can eat, and "Barney and the Choir," where no one can stop him from singing.
As a kid, I laughed myself silly at the Apple Dumpling Gang and Private Eyes. The Andy Griffith Show wasn't the same without him. He even had that cameo in Pleasantville.
1 comment:
He created a comedic archetype and not many have.
Three's Company was my favorite show growing up. His character had charm but was also a bit annoying if overplayed. It wasn't until college, when channel selection was slim, that I got turned on to The Andy Griffith Show.
Besides Get Smart, I think it's the only '60's comedy that I can watch. It is miles above The Munsters or Green Acres. Unlike Furley, you can't get enough of Fife - the character is one of the best ever to grace the small screen.
That show will live on for generations. His films are slowly disappearing from relevence, but they are solid family entertainment. I haven't seen The Private Eyes for twenty years now, but that movie really cracked me up. We have Mr Limpett on DVD. His role in Pleasantville was a fitting finale.
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