July 21 - Don Knotts

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On this day, in 1924, Jesse Donald Knotts was born in Morgantown, West Virginia. The fourth son of William and Elsie Knotts, Don’s childhood wasn’t a happy one. William, already a schizophrenic and alcoholic, suffered a nervous breakdown after the birth of his fourth child and frequently threatened his children at knifepoint. William died from complications associated with pneumonia when Don was 13 and his mother was forced to open a boarding house to make ends meet. Don became an introverted kid who found release by performing on stage.

In high school, Don began performing as a ventriloquist and stand-up comedian at local church and school functions. After high school, he went to New York to start a career as a comedian. It didn’t pan out. He returned home and enrolled at West Virginia University as an education major. After his freshman year, he took a break from college to join in the fighting of World War II. From 1943-46, Don spent most of his tour of duty travelling between the islands of the Pacific, doing stand-up as part of a GI show called Stars and Gripes. Along the way he earned the World War II Victory Medal, Philippine Liberation Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (with 4 bronze service stars), Army Good Conduct Medal, Marksman Badge (with an M1 Carbine) and the Honorable Service lapel pin. After his honorable discharge, Don returned home, resumed his studies at WVU and graduated in 1948.

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With his degree in hand, Don moved to New York again and promptly never used it. This time around he had all sorts of contacts from his days in Special Services and his entertainment career began to build. Not only was he a much more confident stand-up performer in the city’s night clubs, he managed to land a recurring role on a radio program, Bobby Benson and the B-Bar-B Riders, as a wisecracking know-it-all. This led to wider fame on television. In 1953, Don started two years on the soap Search for Tomorrow which rolled into a permanent role as part of the repertory company on The Steve Allen Show. It was on the latter show that Don perfected his character of the extremely nervous man, something he would use to great comedic effect for the rest of his career. During his tenure with Steve Allen, Don also broke onto Broadway in the show No Time for Sergeants and onto the silver screen with the movie version of the same. It was one of Don’s co-stars in Sergeants, Andy Griffith, who would change his life forever.

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In 1960, Andy was given his own television show, aptly named The Andy Griffith Show. Andy was to play a small town sheriff and Don was hired to be his deputy. Initially, the plan was for Andy to be the comedic lead while Don played the straight man. By the second episode, though, Andy could see that the show worked way better the other way around and the character of Barney Fife was allowed to blossom into one of the most beloved guys ever to grace a television screen. During the first five seasons of Andy Griffith, Don won three Emmy Awards for his portrayal of the bumbling law man. Andy had always maintained that his show would only run for five seasons. Don believed him when he said that and sought out a movie contract as what he thought was the series end drew nigh. So it was a surprise to Don when additional seasons were announced. He hadn’t actually signed anything yet with a movie studio, but he felt that he might not have another opportunity to do so. He left the show and eventually signed a five picture deal with Universal. He wasn’t done with Barney Fife, however. Don continued to occasionally play the role in specials and Mayberry RFD, the spin-off to Andy Griffith. People loved the character so much that Don would pick up another two Emmy Awards during those rare Barney sightings, bringing his total up to five for the same character (and a perfect nomination/win ratio).

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After leaving The Andy Griffith Show, Don spent the next several years starring a string of mostly forgettable comedies on the big screen. The more recognizable titles are The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, The Incredible Mr. Limpet and The Shakiest Gun in the West, but none of them are going to make anyone’s best of list. Don also continued to work steadily on television well into the Seventies with guest appearances on Scooby-Doo, 1969’s The Bill Cosby Show and Here’s Lucy.

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In 1975, Don became part of the Disney family when he teamed up with fellow funnyman Tim Conway for fairly mediocre (but profitable) family comedy, The Apple Dumpling Gang. Don would become a staple of Disney comedies for the next few years, with roles in Gus, No Deposit, No Return, Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo, Hot Lead and Cold Feet and ending the decade by joining Tim once again in a sequel, The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again. It would be over two decades before Don appeared (or at least his voice did) in another Disney production as Mayor Turkey Lurkey in 2005’s Chicken Little. His last performance period came a year later in the direct-to-video film Air Buddies, a sequel in Disney’s Air Bud franchise.

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As the Seventies drew to a close, Don would strike television gold once more. The popular sitcom Three’s Company was losing its landlords to their own spin-off, The Ropers. Don was brought in as the apartment complex on the show’s new manager, Ralph Furley. John Ritter recalled everyone being terrified of Don’s star status, but he quickly integrated himself into the existing show and remained a regular cast member until the series finale in 1984. The aging Don Juan wannabe character of Mr. Furley would be something that Don would parody again and again for the rest of his life on venues as different as Robot Chicken and the TVLand Awards.

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Following the end of Three’s Company, Don’s career began slowing down. He joined the cast of the short lived sitcom What a Country! for thirteen episodes in 1987 (why was it short lived? It starred Yakov Smirnoff and he said the show’s title. A lot). He rejoined Andy Griffith for several episodes of Matlock, playing his pesky neighbor between 1988 and 1992. The highlight of his post-Company days is undoubtedly his portrayal of the mysterious TV Repairman in the 1998 hit fantasy/cautionary tale, Pleasantville.

As the millennium rolled over, Don began suffering from macular degeneration, which severely limited the number of public appearances he could make. He did continue to work, however, most notably teaming up with Tim Conway again for a series of direct-to-video children’s shows called Hermie and Friends. His final two live action appearances came in 2003 in a cameo on his old co-star John Ritter’s new show, 8 Simple Rules, and a 2005 cameo on That 70s Show, both of them as landlords. In early 2006, Don contracted pneumonia which ultimately claimed his life on February 24 of that year in Los Angeles, California. He was 81.