Actor Don Knotts, 81, Dies
NY Times
Don Knotts, the skinny, lovable nerd who kept generations of television audiences laughing as the bumbling Deputy Barney Fife on “The Andy Griffith Show,” died on Friday. He was 81.
Mr. Knotts died of pulmonary and respiratory complications at U.C.L.A. Medical Center in Beverly Hills, said Paul Ward, a spokesman for the cable network TV Land, which broadcasts “The Andy Griffith Show” and another hit co-starring Mr. Knotts, “Three’s Company.”
Mr. Knotts had a half-century acting career that included seven television series and more than 25 films, but it was the Griffith show that brought him television immortality and five Emmy Awards.
The show was on the air from 1960 to 1968, 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 to bow out at the top: The others are “I Love Lucy” and “Seinfeld.” The 249 “Griffith” episodes have appeared frequently in reruns and have spawned a large, active network of fan clubs.
As the bug-eyed deputy to Mr. Griffith, Mr. 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.
Mr. Knotts, whose shy, soft-spoken manner was unlike his high-strung characters, once said he was most proud of the Fife character.
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