Don Knotts R.I.P.

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http://www.forbes.com/entrepreneurs/feeds/ap/2006/02/25/ap2553323.html

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 actually shouted, "NOOO!!!" when I read the news. Ruined my day.

― Cunga (Cunga), Saturday, 25 February 2006 22:55 (twenty years ago)

aw :(

― mark s (mark s), Saturday, 25 February 2006 22:57 (twenty years ago)

http://members.cox.net/donknotts/knotts06-astronaut.jpg

― mark s (mark s), Saturday, 25 February 2006 22:58 (twenty years ago)

THE RELUCTANT ASTRONAUT!!!

THE INCREDIBLE MR. LIMPET!!!

THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN!!!

These are the finest movies ever shown on KTLA Channel 5 in Los Angeles

― Jimmy Mod: The Prettiest Flower In The Pond (The Famous Jimmy Mod), Saturday, 25 February 2006 22:58 (twenty years ago)

awww damn.

― J.D. (Justyn Dillingham), Saturday, 25 February 2006 22:58 (twenty years ago)

I actually shouted, "NOOO!!!" when I read the news. Ruined my day.

OMG I had the same reaction.

― Jimmy Mod: The Prettiest Flower In The Pond (The Famous Jimmy Mod), Saturday, 25 February 2006 23:00 (twenty years ago)

i did too!!!! :(

― s1ocki (slutsky), Saturday, 25 February 2006 23:00 (twenty years ago)

FUCK!

― Da Na Not! (donut), Saturday, 25 February 2006 23:01 (twenty years ago)

:(((

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Saturday, 25 February 2006 23:01 (twenty years ago)

Bring him back!

― Casuistry (Chris P), Saturday, 25 February 2006 23:03 (twenty years ago)

hey, he outlived jack tripper.

― chaki (chaki), Saturday, 25 February 2006 23:10 (twenty years ago)

RIP Mr. Roper.

― luna (luna.c), Saturday, 25 February 2006 23:20 (twenty years ago)

Furley! I mean Furley!

― luna (luna.c), Saturday, 25 February 2006 23:20 (twenty years ago)

enid coleslaw to thread :-(

― the bitchy guy in the pince-nez from the old films (Jody Beth Rosen), Saturday, 25 February 2006 23:25 (twenty years ago)

― sgs (sgs), Saturday, 25 February 2006 23:34 (twenty years ago)

god between fife, limpet, the love god?, furley, scooby doo, and those movies with tim conway (the private eyes esp) this dude is a huge part of my childhood.

rip :(

― j blount (papa la bas), Saturday, 25 February 2006 23:39 (twenty years ago)

another hero gone

― no bones, Saturday, 25 February 2006 23:56 (twenty years ago)

Mr. Furley = Comedy Gold

― Joe (Joe), Sunday, 26 February 2006 00:04 (twenty years ago)

How about the episode where Mr. Furley meets The Ropers? Now *that* was a summit talk.

― Joe (Joe), Sunday, 26 February 2006 00:05 (twenty years ago)

such a beautiful man. rest in peace. i will miss that masterful double-takes. and the triple-takes. and the quadruple-takes.

― scott seward (scott seward), Sunday, 26 February 2006 00:26 (twenty years ago)

hey, he outlived jack tripper.

My god, you're right! Crazy stuff.

Anyway, adding to the salutes to one of the great ones.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 26 February 2006 00:29 (twenty years ago)

Sad news. RIP Mr. Knotts.

― Jay Vee (Manon_70), Sunday, 26 February 2006 00:43 (twenty years ago)

What was the movie where he spends a night in a haunted house called?

― Joe (Joe), Sunday, 26 February 2006 00:43 (twenty years ago)

the ghost and mr. chicken?

― s1ocki (slutsky), Sunday, 26 February 2006 00:51 (twenty years ago)

YES!

― Joe (Joe), Sunday, 26 February 2006 00:56 (twenty years ago)

Looking at IMDB, he started on the soap opera Search for Tomorrow. RIP Jesse Donald Knotts, you are one unforgettable actor.

― Jaq (Jaq), Sunday, 26 February 2006 01:23 (twenty years ago)

Dang! He'll always be Barney Fife to me.

― jim wentworth (wench), Sunday, 26 February 2006 01:44 (twenty years ago)

Don Knotts was a great comedic actor.

I always thought Jerry Seinfeld would knick a bit of Barney Fife in his mannerisms when he would try to act smug.

From what I understand, the Don Knotts was a real player back in the day and much more of a ladies man than you might think.

One of my Dad's favorite movies is "No Time for Sargents", which features a very young Andy Griffith, Nick Adams and in a smaller role Don Knotts. Jamie Farr also shows up in a very small role. I think this movie and the scene with Griffith and Knotts was reason they were eventually paired together on TV a few years later.

― Earl Nash (earlnash), Sunday, 26 February 2006 03:05 (twenty years ago)

shit. say it ain't true.

man.

one of the greats.
m.

― msp (mspa), Sunday, 26 February 2006 03:09 (twenty years ago)

The news announcer on the radio said "And today, the man known to millions and millions of people as Mr. Furley passed away..." and I was like "ah FUCK, dude, he was BARNEY FIFE! I was like 8 when he was Mr. Furley and even I knew that his 3s Company role was ass compared to Barn"! But I'm always talking to the radio like that, I'm officially an old curmudgeon.

― Hunter (Hunter), Sunday, 26 February 2006 03:49 (twenty years ago)

i was talking to the radio today too. i noticed that accu-weather has changed the term "wind chill" to "real feel." REAL FEEL.

― Autonomous University of Zacatecas (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 26 February 2006 03:52 (twenty years ago)

I guess John Waters never will get to date him now.

― Anonymous Coward, Sunday, 26 February 2006 03:53 (twenty years ago)

I watched "No Deposit, No Return" five times in the theater before I even knew what an Andy Griffith was. And I think I had a slightly sexual reaction to the polymorphous perversity of "The Incredible Mr. Limpet" but don't tell anyone.

― Haikunym (Haikunym), Sunday, 26 February 2006 04:25 (twenty years ago)

The Chuck Wagon Gang was the first movie that I ever saw in the theater unsupervised. When Knotts and Tim Conway got tied to that wagon wheel, the Riggs kids and I tore that place up.

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Sunday, 26 February 2006 07:28 (twenty years ago)

you know that website with nothing but sleazy rumors about a zillion celebrities that make them all sound like the second coming of hitler?

i remember that don knotts' entry read, simply: "a very nice man."

― J.D. (Justyn Dillingham), Sunday, 26 February 2006 08:06 (twenty years ago)

Nooo! Aw, Don, so great. I think that from him I learned a lot about the need to just be totally goofy sometimes, DK style.

― rrrobyn (rrrobyn), Sunday, 26 February 2006 10:45 (twenty years ago)

strange, when i saw the thread about darren mcgavin dying, i thought to myself "whose next, don knotts?" and find this thread. :-(

RIP

― latebloomer: My Baby's A Labrador, He's Beautiful (latebloomer), Sunday, 26 February 2006 12:48 (twenty years ago)

nice to see all the love for this wonderful fellow. It seems like for the last ten years whenever some celebrity I really loved died, I would think, 'at least this world's still got Don Knotts.'

― teeny (teeny), Sunday, 26 February 2006 13:02 (twenty years ago)

― Austin Still (Austin, Still), Sunday, 26 February 2006 15:06 (twenty years ago)

Excuse me, The Apple Dumplin' Gang.

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Sunday, 26 February 2006 17:09 (twenty years ago)

Sad news. Nice reminiscences from Mark Evanier

― pixel farmer (Rock Hardy), Sunday, 26 February 2006 17:43 (twenty years ago)

bah, html.

Evanier's reminiscences here: http://www.newsfromme.com/

Has anyone seen The Love God? This image alone is enough to blow my mind:

― pixel farmer (Rock Hardy), Sunday, 26 February 2006 17:48 (twenty years ago)

If neither JBR nor Rosemary have seen that I will be severely disappointed.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 26 February 2006 17:51 (twenty years ago)

God: "You nervous, Don?"

Don (shaking like a leaf): "N-n-nope!!"

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Sunday, 26 February 2006 18:42 (twenty years ago)

Barney! Noooooo! RIP. :(

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Sunday, 26 February 2006 19:08 (twenty years ago)

Oh, God, Tracer. There are going to be some awful editorial cartoons drawn this week.

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Sunday, 26 February 2006 19:52 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, I apologize for that.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Sunday, 26 February 2006 20:07 (twenty years ago)

Ripped from my little 7-inch version:

http://s13.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1J4AHCUN1OZUI38F9IEJJSOWK8

RIP Don.

― Guymauve (Guymauve), Sunday, 26 February 2006 20:56 (twenty years ago)

A very sad day. Ghost & Mr. Chicken is my favorite movie ever. I have a 7 foot Italian movie poster of it in my hallway...

Attaboy, Luther...

― Dave will do (dave225.3), Sunday, 26 February 2006 22:06 (twenty years ago)

Every so often you hear of the passing of a celebrity, and for whatever reasons it makes you sadder than you would have thought. This is one of those times. See you round Mr. Furley.

― J-rock (Julien Sandiford), Monday, 27 February 2006 07:10 (twenty years ago)

Age ten or so, I saw "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken" in a theater (it WAS a re-release). WOR Channel 9 in New York showed the Knotts movies constantly.

Ever see any of the pre-Fife Knotts from The Steve Allen Show? (Shaking and twitching uncontrollably) "I'm a b-br-brain surgeon." GOLD

Steve Buscemi, it's all yours now.

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Monday, 27 February 2006 14:27 (twenty years ago)

nine years pass...

Internet killed him again today.

― "Damn the Taquitos" (C. Grisso/McCain), Friday, 26 February 2016 22:37 (ten years ago)

first Bingo and now Don Knotts!? 2016 has been such a bloodbath for celebrities, I honestly can't get my head around it

― small doug yule carnival club (unregistered), Friday, 26 February 2016 22:46 (ten years ago)

Ghost & Mr. Chicken is my favorite movie ever. I have a 7 foot Italian movie poster of it in my hallway...

This is fantastic!

― Retro novelty punk (Dan Peterson), Friday, 26 February 2016 22:46 (ten years ago)

Wow...
http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/45/20/2d/45202d0a53431636c9de460d82458d0f.jpg

― Retro novelty punk (Dan Peterson), Friday, 26 February 2016 22:48 (ten years ago)

don knotts rules

― lute bro (brimstead), Friday, 26 February 2016 23:54 (ten years ago)

WOR Channel 9 in New York showed the Knotts movies constantly.
Indeed. Watched The Incredible Mr. Limpet many times.
Ever see any of the pre-Fife Knotts from The Steve Allen Show? (Shaking and twitching uncontrollably) "I'm a b-br-brain surgeon." GOLD
Have not, but just read about that in the excellent book you recommended.

― The Kidd With The Erasable Borad (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 28 February 2016 18:42 (ten years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNWZo0UjLNQ

― we can be heroes just for about 3.6 seconds (Dr Morbius), Sunday, 28 February 2016 21:59 (ten years ago)

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