Tribute To Don Knotts (Barney Fife)
Robert Paul Reyes
February 27, 2006
A few of us are destined for greatness, with her sultry voice, platinum blond hair and curvaceous body, Marilyn Monroe was born to be a movie star.
The rest of us eventually give up our dreams of fame and fortune, and settle in to our lives of quiet desperation.
With his receding hairline, awkward gait, razor-thin frame, concave chest, skull head, protruding Adam's apple, bug-like eyes, fish-lips, nervous demeanor and non existent chin, the prospects for show business success for Don Knotts were not very good.
But Don Knotts made lemonade out of a lemon, he took his physical imperfections and created the hapless but loveable Barney Fife.
As the bumbling deputy sheriff, Barney Fife, he rarely captured the bad guys, but he captured our hearts with his endearing performance.
Don Knotts also garnered five Emmys for his bumbling portrayal of Barney Fife and immortality as a TV icon -- a legacy that survives the 81-year-old thespian's death of pulmonary and respiratory complications.
Don Knotts even managed to achieve middling success as a movie star. In the 1960's he starred in "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken," "The Incredible Mr. Limpet," "The Reluctant Astronaut" and "The Shakiest Gun in the West".
Don Knotts shared his comedic gift with a new generation in the early 1980's on the hit sitcom "Three's Company", playing landlord and self-styled swinger Ralph Furley.
When the world gets to be too much for me, Mayberry's fishing hole and Barney's nervous antics are waiting for me, to give me a temporary respite from the madness of everyday life.
Most of us have more in common with Don Knotts than we do with Brad Pitt. Don Knotts success gives us the hope that perhaps we can accomplish a few good things before we give up the ghost.
The rest of us eventually give up our dreams of fame and fortune, and settle in to our lives of quiet desperation.
With his receding hairline, awkward gait, razor-thin frame, concave chest, skull head, protruding Adam's apple, bug-like eyes, fish-lips, nervous demeanor and non existent chin, the prospects for show business success for Don Knotts were not very good.
But Don Knotts made lemonade out of a lemon, he took his physical imperfections and created the hapless but loveable Barney Fife.
As the bumbling deputy sheriff, Barney Fife, he rarely captured the bad guys, but he captured our hearts with his endearing performance.
Don Knotts also garnered five Emmys for his bumbling portrayal of Barney Fife and immortality as a TV icon -- a legacy that survives the 81-year-old thespian's death of pulmonary and respiratory complications.
Don Knotts even managed to achieve middling success as a movie star. In the 1960's he starred in "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken," "The Incredible Mr. Limpet," "The Reluctant Astronaut" and "The Shakiest Gun in the West".
Don Knotts shared his comedic gift with a new generation in the early 1980's on the hit sitcom "Three's Company", playing landlord and self-styled swinger Ralph Furley.
When the world gets to be too much for me, Mayberry's fishing hole and Barney's nervous antics are waiting for me, to give me a temporary respite from the madness of everyday life.
Most of us have more in common with Don Knotts than we do with Brad Pitt. Don Knotts success gives us the hope that perhaps we can accomplish a few good things before we give up the ghost.
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