What happened to DON KNOTTS?

Donald Don Knotts was born July 21st 1924 in Morgantown West Virginia knots his father suffered from hysterical blindness and a nervous collapse before Don was born and only left his bed there after during brief moments when he would terrorize his young son with a knife in many ways it was a blessing for the 13 year old nots when his father passed away raised during the Depression Knotts his mother took in boarders to make ends meet he found a father figure in his older brother shadow tragically shadows succumbed to asthma in 1941 as a young preteen Knotts took up ventriloquism and started performing around town I had become a ventriloquist I was in junior high school somebody asked me to come to a party and entertain I did they took up a collection I got almost a dollar and chain I thought I'm on my way after graduating from high school the popular boy left West Virginia to seek fame in the Big Apple but returned home a few months later from there Knotts joined the US Army where he and his dummy Danny entertained the troops as part of a GI variety show called stars and brights however after growing jealous of the attention Danny received Knotts gave him the heave-ho and one night I left that I left Danny on a beach when we left and reported him missing in action upon leaving the Army in 1948 Knotts went to college where he met and married his first wife Kay Metz with whom he would go on to have two children before divorcing in 1969 soon after graduating college Knotts decided to give New York City one more try he rang up an army buddy who helped secure him and deal with talent agency William Morris and he began starring on radio programs and a small role on a soap opera in 1955 Knotts made his Broadway debut in the hit comedy no time for sergeants in which he worked for the first time with Andy Griffith the two got along grandly and would become lifelong friends I didn't know who he was I was very impressed with Annie I heard of raid I thought it was great that same year knots landed a regular spot on the Steve Allen show making a name for himself in his role as too nervous them my name is Dee Dee Morrison and I'm a bodyguard for Vice President Nixon [Applause] nice to have you here mr. db4 by the way what's the DD for duck dick he came up partly out of a dream although I had seen a guy making speech real nervous I struck me funny that's that's how it's I came by it when the show moved to Hollywood in 1959 Knotts and his family moved there as well in 1960 not learned that his friend Andy Griffith would be filming a pilot for the Andy Griffith Show he reached out to Griffith offering to play a part on the show and was soon cast as Barney Fife the bumbling bug-eye deputy who is full of swagger and short on common sense now do you want to be known as a chicken the show became a huge hit and would run from 1960 to 1968 we worked hand-in-glove align our timing was alike I could almost tell when any was gonna come in and he could he said he could do the same with me I could see sometimes Andy's eyes he was trying to keep from the lash out in force and say pretty good you go over it again you think you got it I got not would receive his first Emmy Award for his portrayal of what would become one of televisions most beloved characters I don't know what to say all my life have been a prepared loser [Music] I do want to say a very sincere thanks to the Academy and to the members of the entire Griffith company and particularly two very very wonderful man Andy Griffith himself thank you ladies due to the success of the show Knotts began receiving offers to act in films he made a cameo appearance in it's a mad mad mad mad world and starred in the incredible mr. limpet a novel film that combined animation with real-life actors more than anything I wish I could be one of you right now I wish I wish in 1965 believing The Andy Griffith Show was coming to an end Knotts decided to leave and dedicate himself to motion pictures I left because Andy had said he would never do the show longer than five years and during the that season I thought jeez I never start looking around and I wound up getting up an offer from Universal to do movies and then Andy suddenly said he was gonna stay on another two or three years it was a tough time for me because I enjoyed the Griffith Show so much I hated to leave while he made his official exit that year he would return on occasion for special guest appearances and even win two more Emmy Awards in 1975 knots teamed up with Tim Conway to star in a series of successful children's films about a gang of inept Cowboys well you told me not to do anything attract attention in 1979 Knotts again struck television gold when he was cast as the ridiculous mr. Furley on the hit series Three's Company it was a very broad comedy show lots of broad jokes lots of physical humor and John Ritter is a great physical comedian who could be Great Falls he remained on the show until 1984 in 1986 and 1988 Knotts would rejoin his old friend Andy Griffith for the first time to reprise his role as Barney Fife in return to Mayberry we're talking sign for action this is no floating log this is a menace and the second for an appearance on Griffiths successful series Matlock [Music] during his later years Knotts who always considered himself frail and sickly developed macular degeneration a progressive eye disease that can lead to blindness the stress of his illness contributed in part to the dissolution of his second marriage regardless the hard-working actor continued to appear in film and television roles including a standout part in the movie Pleasantville however on February 24th 2006 after a half-century of making audiences laugh and love him Don Knotts passed away of lung cancer with his friend Andy Griffith at his side Don was a lovely funny man who wanted people to laugh and wanted people to enjoy life Knotts was buried at Westwood Memorial Park in Los Angeles California his tombstone describes the essence of knots as acting ability stating he saw the poignancy in people's pride and pain and turned it into something hilarious my throw your arms round me hearties angels in heaven know I love you know I love you know I love you angels in No [Music] [Music] please don't forget to like this video and to subscribe

Channel: Alpha 11

Views: 2,516,874

Rating: 4.8744755 out of 5

Keywords: Don Knotts, Andy Griffith, Andy Griffith show, Three's Company, The Incredible Mr. Limpet, The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, The Reluctant Astronaut, Pleasantville, John Ritter, Hollywood Legends

Id: 2ay6XLTJ64M

Length: 9min 15sec (555 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 18 2017

Reddit Comments

[u/coldbloodednuts]

My eyes filled up with tears. It was a wonderfully done portrait of a man we all grew up with.