Happy 80th Birthday Don Knotts

[Disney Guru]

Today once of The Greatest Comedy Movie Stars Don Knotts turned 80. Don Knotts starred in 5 Disney Films 3 of which his co star was Tim Conway. Don is one of the greatest Movie Stars Of All Time. Here Is A Brief Biography of Don from http://www.allmovie.com

While a still scrawny, undersized pre-teen in Morgantown, West Virginia, Don Knotts dreamed of becoming an entertainer, but was too nervous to offer himself as a "single." Purchasing a dummy named Danny, Knotts worked up a ventriloquist act (admittedly stolen from Edgar Bergen) and headed to New York to seek his fortune. After flunking out twice on Major Bowes' Amateur Hour, Knotts returned to Morgantown. He attended West Virginia University as a speech major, intending to become a teacher. He was given a second opportunity to hone his entertaining skills while in Special Services during World War II. He continued pursuing ventriloquism until the fateful night that he threw his dummy into the ocean: "I wanted to get the laughs," Knotts would explain later. And laughs he got as a monologist from both GI and civilian audiences. Never completely conquering his stage fright, Knotts incorporated his nervousness into his act, impersonating such tremulous creatures as a novice TV weatherman and a tongue-tied sportcaster. In New York after the war, Knotts secured work on a local children's show before spending several years on the daytime soap opera Search for Tomorrow.

In 1955, Knotts was cast in two small roles in the Broadway play No Time for Sergeants, which starred another teacher-turned-monologist named Andy Griffith, who would become Knotts' lifelong friend and co-worker. From 1955 through 1960, Knotts was a regular on The Steve Allen Show, provoking uncontrollable gusts of laughter as the bug-eyed, quivering "man on the street." He made his screen debut in the 1958 film version of No Time for Sergeants, re-creating his stage role of the squeaky-voiced coordination therapist. In 1960, he was cast as uptight, self-important, overzealous, magnificently inept deputy Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show. This was the role than won Knotts seven Emmies: five during his five-year tenure on the series, and two more when he returned to the show as a guest star in 1966 and 1967. Knotts left the Griffith Show when his contract expired in 1965, hoping to achieve movie stardom. From 1966 through 1971, Knotts ground out a series of inexpensive comedies for Universal (called "regionals" because they played primarily in non-urban and rural theatres). Panned or ignored by the critics on their first release, many of Knott's starring films, especially The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966) and Shakiest Gun in the West (1967), hold up surprisingly well today. Arguably, the best of Knotts' 1960s films was made at Warner Bros. while he was still an Andy Griffith regular: The Incredible Mr. Limpet, an engaging blend of animation and live action wherein Knotts was ideally cast as a henpecked husband who metamorphosed into a war-hero fish!


In 1970, Knotts starred in his own TV variety series, which opened to good ratings but which ran out of gas after a single season. He resumed his film career, first at Disney, then teamed with Tim Conway in a handful of cheap but amusing second features (The Private Eyes, The Prize Fighter) He also returned to television as self-style roue Mr. Furley on Three's Company (1979-84) and as gung-ho principal Bud McPherson on the syndicated What a Country! (1986). In 1996, Don Knotts was seen as a school principal in the Rick Moranis/Tom Arnold comedy Big Bully; his initial appearance on screen was greeted with the sort of appreciative laughter and applause that is afforded only to a genuine television icon. — Hal Erickson

So Happy Birthday Don Knotts. And May You Have Many More.

[pinkrenata]

Wow. He and Doris Day are almost exactly the same age. I bet Donnie was pretty teed off at Doris for being able to drink sooner than him.

[indianajdp]

One of my all-time favs.
Cannot believe he's 80.

[AwallaceUNC]

Big Don Knotts fan here, too. Happy birthday, Don!

-Aaron

[Escapay]

Happy Birthday, Mr. Knotts!

Anyone remember Doug? Don Knotts was Mr. Bone! And of course there was his Mr. Furley from Three's Company.

In New York after the war, Knotts secured work on a local children's show before spending several years on the daytime soap opera Search for Tomorrow.

Don Knott's SFT character, Wilbur Peterson, was on the show from 1953-1955. Some bits of his story, from The Soap Opera Encyclopedia (1997):

After the twin-sister ruse failed, the ring hired Rose Peabody to find Jo's weak spot and exploit it. Unable to find any weak part of Jo, Rose tried to ruin her repuation by poisoning a pot of soup Jo would be serving to her workers. While Rose's plot to ruin Jo was comically absurd, Rose's character history was rather advanced for its day. She had been molested by her stepfather, and her brother Wilbur (played by a pre-Andy Griffith Show Don Knotts) had gone mute after killing him. Rose was originally played by Lee Grant, who had to leave the show after the publication Red Channels branded her a communist during the McCarthy era. Nita Talbot, and Constance Ford after her, took over the role.

BTW, DG, who is Hal Erickson? It seems you get a lot of information from him.

Escapay

[Maerj]

I remember the time that Scooby Doo met him. He called him "Ron Rotts." Zoinks!

[Disney Guru]

Mr. Hal Erickson is a man who works for http://www.allmovie.com and does biographys of movie stars and a lot of movie reviews. I don't know him personally

[Escapay]

LOL

I thought he was a personal friend or something!

Escapay

[jambo*rafiki]

Anyone remember Doug? Don Knotts was Mr. Bone!

Really? That's so neat! I just 'rediscovered' this show a little while ago, it was a staple of my early childhood. Very cool that he was involved. Happy birthday, Mr. Knotts!
By the way, nice new avatar, Escapay

[Escapay]

By the way, nice new avatar, Escapay [/color]

Thanks, jambo! It's only the third one I've had (first was an Another World avatar, second was Gus from Cinderella). Kram e-mailed it to me, and he actually said in his message (titled "UDUDUDUDUDUD"), "Here's your new avatar, you're going to use it and you're going to like it!"

Escapay

[Kram Nebuer]

Happy Birthday, Don Knotts!

His other work for Disney includes the Governor in Quints and the mayor in Chicken Little.