Knotts was born inWest Virginia, the youngest of four children. In the 1940s, before earning a college degree, he served in theUnited States Army and inWorld War II. While enlisted, he chose to become aventriloquist and comedian as part of aG.I. variety show,Stars and Gripes.
After the army, he got his first major break on television on thesoap operaSearch for Tomorrow, where he appeared from 1953 to 1955. He gained wide recognition as part of the repertory company onSteve Allen's variety show, where he played the "extremely nervous man" in Allen's mock "Man in the Street" interviews. In 1958, Knotts made his film debut in the adapted version ofNo Time for Sergeants.
Knotts was born inMorgantown, West Virginia, the youngest of four sons of farmer William Jesse Knotts and his wife Elsie Luzetta Knotts (née Moore), who were married inSpraggs, Pennsylvania. His English paternal ancestors emigrated to America in the 17th century, originally settling inQueen Anne's County, Maryland. His brothers were named Willis, William and Ralph (who was called "Sid").[4]
Knotts's mother was 40 years old at his birth. His father, who hadschizophrenia and battled alcoholism, sometimes terrorized him with a knife, causing him to turn inwards at an early age. His father died ofpneumonia when Knotts was 13. He and his brothers were subsequently raised by their mother, who ran aboarding house in Morgantown. She died in 1969 at age 84. Her son William preceded her in death in 1941 at age 31. They are buried in the family plot at Beverly Hills Memorial Park in Morgantown.[4]
Before he entered high school, Knotts began performing as aventriloquist and comedian at various church and school functions.[1]: 5 After high school, he traveled to New York City to try to make his way as a comedian, but when his career failed to take off, he returned home to attend West Virginia University. After his freshman year, he joined the U.S. Army and spent most of his service entertaining troops.[5] He toured the westernPacific Islands as a comedian, in aG.I. variety show calledStars and Gripes.[8] His ventriloquist act included a dummy named Danny that Knotts grew to hate and eventually threw overboard, according to friend and castmateAl Checco.[1]: 7
After being demobilized, Knotts returned to West Virginia University and graduated in 1948. He married Kay Metz and moved back to New York, where connections that he had made in the Special Services Branch helped him to break into show business. In addition to doing stand-up comedy at clubs, he appeared on radio, eventually playing the wisecracking, know-it-all character "Windy Wales" on a radio Western calledBobby Benson and the B-Bar-B Riders.[10]
Knotts got his first break on television on the soap operaSearch for Tomorrow, where he appeared from 1953 to 1955. He came to fame in 1956 onSteve Allen's variety show as part of Allen's repertory company, most notably in Allen's mock "Man in the Street" interviews, always playing an extremely nervous man. He remained with Allen through the 1959–1960 season.
From October 20, 1955, through September 14, 1957, he appeared withAndy Griffith in theBroadway stage version ofNo Time for Sergeants, in which he played two roles, listed in thePlaybill as a Corporal Manual Dexterity and a Preacher.[11] In 1958, he made his movie debut with Griffith in the film version ofNo Time for Sergeants, in which he reprised his Broadway role, playing a high-strungAir Force test administrator whose routine is disrupted by the hijinks of a provincial new recruit.[12]
As Barney Fife, Knotts gets the help of Sheriff Taylor when his gun gets stuck on his finger.Knotts receives his firstEmmy Award forThe Andy Griffith Show, 1961.
Self-important, romantic, and nearly always wrong, Barney dreamed of the day he could use the one bullet Andy had issued to him, though he did fire his gun on a few occasions. He always fired his pistol accidentally while still in his holster or in the ceiling of the courthouse, at which point he would sadly hand his pistol to Andy. This is why Barney kept one very shiny bullet in his shirt pocket. In episode #196, Andy gave Barney more bullets so that he would have a loaded gun to go after a bad guy that Barney unintentionally helped escape. While Barney was forever frustrated that Mayberry was too small for the delusional ideas he had of himself, viewers got the sense that he couldn't have survived anywhere else. Don Knotts played the comic and pathetic sides of the character with equal aplomb and he received three Emmy Awards during the show's first five seasons.[14]
When the show first aired, Griffith was intended to be the comedic lead with Knotts as hisstraight man, similar to their roles inNo Time for Sergeants. However, it was quickly discovered that the show was funnier with the roles reversed. As Griffith maintained in several interviews, "By the second episode, I knew that Don should be funny, and I should play straight."[15]
Knotts believed remarks by Griffith thatThe Andy Griffith Show would end after five seasons, and he began to look for other work, signing a five-film contract withUniversal Studios. In his autobiography, Knotts admitted that he had not yet signed the contract when Griffith announced his decision to continue the series; but he had made up his mind to move on, believing that he would not get the chance again. Knotts left the series in 1965. His character's absence on the show was explained by Deputy Fife having finally made the "big time", joining theRaleigh, North Carolina, police force.[16]
Knotts reprised his role as Barney Fife several times in the 1960s. He made five guest appearances onThe Andy Griffith Show (earning another two Emmy Awards), and he appeared once on the spin-offMayberry R.F.D., in which he was present asbest man for the marriage of Andy Taylor and his longtime love,Helen Crump.[17] He continued to work steadily, although he did not appear as a regular on any successful television series until 1979, when he took the part of landlord Ralph Furley onThree's Company.[18]
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Knotts served as the spokesman forDodge trucks and was featured prominently in a series of print ads and dealer brochures. On television, he hosted a variety show/sitcom hybrid onNBC,The Don Knotts Show, which aired on Tuesdays during autumn 1970, but the series was low-rated and short-lived, and Knotts was uncomfortable with the variety show format.[1]: 12 He also made frequent guest appearances on other shows, such asThe Bill Cosby Show andHere's Lucy. In 1970, he appeared as a Barney Fife-like police officer in the pilot ofThe New Andy Griffith Show. In 1972, Knotts voiced an animated version of himself in two episodes ofThe New Scooby Doo Movies: "The Spooky Fog of Juneberry", in which he played a lawman resembling Barney Fife, and "Guess Who's Knott Coming to Dinner". He appeared as Felix Unger in a stage version ofNeil Simon'sThe Odd Couple, withArt Carney as Oscar Madison, and toured in the Neil Simon comedyLast of the Red Hot Lovers.[1]: 13
In 1979, Knotts returned to series television as the wacky but lovable landlord Ralph Furley onThree's Company.[1]: 13 The series, which was already an established hit, added Knotts to the cast when the original landlords, Stanley and Helen Roper (a married couple played byNorman Fell andAudra Lindley, respectively), left to star in their own short-lived spin-off seriesThe Ropers.
On the set, Knotts easily integrated himself into the already established cast, who were, asJohn Ritter put it, "so scared" of Knotts because of his star status. WhenSuzanne Somers left the show after a contract dispute in 1981, the writers started giving the material meant for Somers's Chrissy to Knotts's Furley.[citation needed] Knotts remained on the series until it ended in 1984. TheThree's Company script supervisor Carol Summers became Knotts's agent and often accompanied him to personal appearances.[citation needed]
In 1986, Knotts reunited with Andy Griffith in the made-for-television filmReturn to Mayberry, reprising his Barney Fife role.[1]: 161 In early 1987, he joined the cast of the first-run syndicated comedyWhat a Country!, as Principal Bud McPherson, for its remaining 13 episodes. It was produced by Martin Rips and Joseph Staretski, who had previously worked onThree's Company.[citation needed] From 1988 until 1992, Knotts joined Andy Griffith onMatlock in the recurring role of pesky neighbor Les Calhoun.[1]: 169
His roles became more sporadic, including a cameo appearance in the filmBig Bully (1996) as the high school principal. In 1998, he had a small but pivotal role as a mysterious TV repairman inPleasantville.[1]: 15 That year, his hometown of Morgantown, West Virginia, changed the name of the street formerly known as South University Avenue (U.S. Route 119) to Don Knotts Boulevard on "Don Knotts Day".[1]: 18-19 Also on that day, in honor of Knotts's role as Barney Fife, he was named an honorary deputy sheriff with theMonongalia County Sheriff's Department.
Knotts was recognized in 2000 with a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame.[1]: 15 He continued to act on stage, but much of his film and television work after 2000 was as voice talent. In 2002, he appeared again withScooby-Doo in the video gameScooby-Doo! Night of 100 Frights. He also spoofed his appearances on that show in various promotions forCartoon Network, and in a parody onRobot Chicken, on which he was teamed withPhyllis Diller. In 2003, he teamed up again withTim Conway to provide voices for the direct-to-video children's seriesHermie and Friends, which continued until his death. In 2005, he was the voice of Mayor Turkey Lurkey inChicken Little (2005), his first Disney movie since 1979.
On September 12, 2003, he was inKansas City, in a stage version ofOn Golden Pond, when he received a call from John Ritter's family telling him that his formerThree's Company co-star had died that day of anaortic dissection.[citation needed] He and his co-stars attended the funeral four days later. Knotts had appeared with Ritter for the last time in 2003 in a cameo on8 Simple Rules... for Dating My Teenage Daughter, in an episode that paid homage to their previous television series. Knotts was the lastThree's Company star to work with Ritter.[citation needed]
During this period of time,macular degeneration in both eyes caused the otherwise robust Knotts to become virtually blind.[citation needed] His live appearances on television were few. In 2005, he parodied his Ralph Furley character while playing aPaul Young variation in aDesperate Housewives sketch onThe 3rd Annual TV Land Awards. He parodied that part one final time in "Stone Cold Crazy", an episode of the sitcomThat '70s Show, in which he played the landlord. It was his last live-action television appearance.[citation needed] His final role was inAir Buddies (2006), a direct-to-video sequel toAir Bud, voicing the sheriff's deputy dog Sniffer.[citation needed]
Knotts's friendAl Checco said, "Don was somewhat of a ladies' man. He fancied himself something of aFrank Sinatra. The ladies loved him and he dated quite a bit."[1]: 11 Knotts was married three times. His marriage to Kathryn Metz lasted from 1947 until their divorce in 1964. They had a son, Thomas Knotts, and a daughter, actressKaren Knotts (born April 2, 1954). After they divorced, Knotts raised his daughter as a single parent.[1]: 11-12 He married Loralee Czuchna in 1974; they divorced in 1983. His third marriage was to Frances Yarborough, from 2002 until his death in 2006.[19]
Knotts struggled withhypochondria and macular degeneration.[8][20]Betty Lynn, one of his co-stars onThe Andy Griffith Show, described him as a "very quiet man. Very sweet. Nothing like Barney Fife."[21] TV writerMark Evanier called him "the most beloved person in all of show business".[22]
In February 2025, Knotts' co-starRon Howard revealed that he had recently learned that the two were distant cousins but neither had known during Knotts' lifetime.[2]
Statue of Don Knotts, Metropolitan TheatreKnotts's grave
Knotts died at age 81 on February 24, 2006, at theCedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles from pulmonary and respiratory complications ofpneumonia related tolung cancer.[23] He underwent treatment at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in the months before his death but returned home after reportedly feeling better. He was buried atWestwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles.
Knotts's obituaries cited him as a major influence on other entertainers. In early 2011, his grave's plain granite headstone was replaced with a bronze plaque depicting several of his movie and television roles. A statue honoring him, created byJamie Lester, was unveiled on July 23, 2016, in front of The Metropolitan Theatre on High Street in his hometown of Morgantown, West Virginia.[24][25]
^abde Visé, Daniel (2015).Andy and Don: The Making of a Friendship and a Classic American TV Show. New York: Simon & Schuster. pp. 3–7.ISBN978-1-4767-4773-6.
^Monush, Barry (2003).Screen World Presents the Encyclopedia of Hollywood Film Actors: From the Silent Era to 1965. Vol. 1. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 397.ISBN1-55783-551-9.
