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Don Knotts passes at age 81

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Actor Don Knotts Dies at 81
Feb 25, 5:42 PM EST

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."

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That would be a sad day. Who couldn't just love Barney Fife? Didn't ever really get in to Three's Company, but loved the Andy Griffith Show. Hats off to the funny man.

I had a "Mister Furley" (sp?) suit in grade six.

It was a brown polyester three-piece suit, with butterfly collars. I thought I was the shit, until the girls at school called me Mr. Furley. I loved that suit.

It is with great regret I find this icon passing. In Peace, Don. You were always funny, and I can think of no better compliment to give someone. I hope that someone says that about me at my eulogy...

I just lost a childhood icon.
I grew up with The Incredible Mr. Limpet, The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, The Reluctant Astronaut, The Shakiest Gun in the West, and The Apple Dumpling Gang.
Not to mention Barney and Mr. Furley.
Mr. Knotts was a funny, funny, funny man.

Rest In Peace, Mr. Knotts. You've made a lot of peoples lives better by showing us how to laugh. You'll be missed.

What a wonderful human being he was.
He brought, and continues to bring, so much laughter to an increasingly unhappy world.

I still love to hear Barney Fife singing "Jaunita" into the phone. :)

I'll miss you dearly, ol' friend.

R.I.P., Mr. Knotts.

Unfortunately, while reading about Don Knotts' death, I read that "The Night Stalker" and "A Christmas Story" star, Darren McGavin, has also passed away. :(
He was another one of my favorite actors.

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Feb. 26, 2006

Prolific actor Darren McGavin dies at 83

By AP
Darren McGavin, the husky, tough-talking actor who starred in several TV series, played a grouchy dad in the holiday classic "A Christmas Story" and had other strong roles in such films as "The Man with the Golden Arm" and "The Natural," died Saturday. He was 83.

McGavin died of natural causes at a Los Angeles-area hospital with his family at his side, said his son Bogart McGavin.

McGavin made his film debut in 1945 when he switched from painter of movie sets to bit actor in "A Song to Remember." After a decade of learning his craft in New York, he returned to Hollywood and became one of the busiest actors in television and films.

He starred in five series, including "Mike Hammer" and cult favorite "Kolchak: The Night Stalker," and became a prolific actor in TV movies. Among his memorable portrayals was Gen. George Patton in the 1979 TV biography "Ike."

Despite his busy career in television, McGavin was awarded only one Emmy: in 1990 for an appearance as Candice Bergen's opinionated father in an episode of "Murphy Brown."

He may be best recognized for his role as the hot-tempered father of a boy yearning for the gift of a BB gun in the 1983 comedy "A Christmas Story." The film has become a holiday-season staple on TV.

McGavin lacked the prominence in films he enjoyed in television, but he registered strongly in featured roles such as the young artist in Venice in "Summertime," David Lean's 1955 film with Katharine Hepburn and Rosanno Brazzi; Frank Sinatra's crafty drug supplier in "The Man with the Golden Arm" (1955); and Jerry Lewis's parole officer in "The Delicate Delinquent."

McGavin's other films include "The Court-martial of Billy Mitchell," "Airport '77," and "Billy Madison." He starred alongside Don Knotts, who died Friday night, in the 1976 family comedy "No Deposit, No Return."

Throughout his television career, McGavin gained a reputation as a curmudgeon willing to bad-mouth his series and combat studio bosses.

McGavin starred in the private eye series "Mike Hammer" in the 1950s. In 1968 he told a reporter: "Hammer was a dummy. I made 72 of those shows, and I thought it was a comedy. In fact, I played it camp. He was the kind of guy who would've waved the flag for George Wallace."

McGavin also disparaged "Riverboat," an 1840s adventure that ran from 1959-61 and costarred Burt Reynolds.

When "Riverboat" was in danger of being canceled by NBC, McGavin rented a room in St. Louis, interviewed riverboat captains and searched old files about Mississippi traffic. He presented the network with a detailed plan for improving the series.

"NBC used none of my ideas, went fumbling ahead, and 'Riverboat' sank," he said.

McGavin's other series included "Crime Photographer," "The Outsider," and the short-lived "Kolchak: The Night Stalker," in which he played a reporter who investigates supernatural occurrences in Chicago. Last fall, ABC began airing a remake of the 1974 occult fave, but that too was soon canceled.

Born in Spokane, Wash., McGavin was sketchy in interviews about his childhood. He told TV Guide in 1973 that he was a constant runaway at 10 and 11, and as a teen lived in warehouses in Tacoma, Wash., and dodged the police and welfare workers. His parents disappeared, he said.

He spent a year at College of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif., taking part in dramatics, then landed in Los Angeles. He washed dishes and was hired to paint sets at Columbia studio. He was working on "A Song to Remember" when an agent told him of an opening for a small role.

"I climbed off a painter's ladder and washed up at a nearby gas station," McGavin said. "I returned through Columbia's front gate with the agent." The director, Charles Vidor, hired him. No one recognized him but the paint foreman, who said, "You're fired."

McGavin studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse and the Actors Studio and began working in live TV drama and on Broadway. He appeared with Charlton Heston in "Macbeth" on TV and played Happy in "Death of a Salesman" in New York and on the road.

He is survived by his four children York, Megan, Bridget and Bogart from a previous marriage to Melanie York McGavin, Bogart McGavin said. McGavin was separated from his second wife, Kathy Brown, he said.

R.I.P., Mr. McGavin

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Originally Posted by Bill O'Rights

That says it. I'm sure many of us can think back to good times spent watching him on a screen of whatever size. :) :(

I'm all the more bummed out by hearing of McGavin's passing. Always liked that guy's twitchy, caffeine affected roles. Night Stalker, certainly. "The very important prize." :) My favorite X-Files was the old black & white McGavin episode. RIP Darren.

just wondering how many people he made laugh over the years, I cracked up just seeing his picture again. had a real gift for it, hope he leaves the planet knowing he made some lives better.

Don Knotts was a comedy icon of my youth... He and Tim Conway in the Apple Dumpling Gang were pure genius (OK they were genuis slumming in a Disney film). Don Knotts taught me as much about mugging for the camera (in a funny way) as Monty Python taught me about surreal wit.

Not a finger!

R.I.P. Darren McGavin

Growing up in NC, Don Knotts was obviously omnipresent in my youth. It's like a state law that a TV station in every city airs both Andy Griffith AND Mayberry RFD. Most also air Gomer Pyle. Nipped in the bud at age 81.

Don Knotts was a genius. A fixture in my young life, just like Gilligan and the Brady Bunch. He was one of those rare individuals, like Tim Conway and Harvey Corman, who are just naturally very funny. Very sad. I am going to watch The Incredible Mr. Limpet in memoria.

The Incredible Mr. Limpet

you know i still got an old grungy dirty vcr tape of this movie.. one of my fav's..

why do all the quality good actors have to die and we get stuck with cereal box types with no ability to do anything but read a line and shoot a gun?

*tips a corona* Keep the Faith my good man. The road to eternity ever widens