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."

His career brought a lot of people bright spots in their day to day lives. I'm going to miss him.

I loved him in Three's Company. Well, I actually loved everything he was in. He had a way of making you laugh no matter what the story was about.

My uncle watches the Andy Griffith Show every day. That is when I really started to like him (when I was young) and did like him in Three's Company. Sad to see him go. Fortunately, he brought a lot of smiles to a lot of faces.

I grew up watching the Andy Griffith Show at my grandparent's house and always liked him. As a kid I remember seeing him in a movie, The Apple Dumpling Gang, for some reason I loved that movie and I always think of him in that. Wow, now I'm showing my age.... Anyway, it's a sad day indeed

Me too Gwen!!
And who didn't love him in 3s company?
Very sad. But he had a good life.