Jesse Donald Knotts (July 21, 1924 – February 24, 2006) was an American actor and comedian. He is widely known for his role as Deputy Sheriff Barney Fife on the 1960s sitcom The Andy Griffith Show, for which he earned five Emmy Awards. He also played Ralph Furley on the sitcom Three's Company from 1979 to 1984. He starred in multiple comedic films, including leading roles in The Incredible Mr. Limpet (1964) and The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966). In 2004, TV Guide ranked him number 27 on its "50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time" list.
Knotts was born in West Virginia, the youngest of four children. In the 1940s, before earning a college degree, he served in the United States Army and in World War II. While enlisted, he chose to become a ventriloquist and comedian as part of a G.I. variety show, Stars and Gripes.
After the army, he got his first major break on television on the soap opera Search for Tomorrow, where he appeared from 1953 to 1955. He gained wide recognition as part of the repertory company on Steve 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 of No Time for Sergeants.
Knotts was cast as deputy Barney Fife on television's The Andy Griffith Show, which ran from 1960 to 1968. He reprised the character on other shows, such as The Joey Bishop Show and Return to Mayberry. Knotts won five Emmy Awards for Best Supporting Actor in a Television Comedy.
Knotts was born in Morgantown, West Virginia, the youngest of four sons of farmer William Jesse Knotts and his wife Elsie Luzetta Knotts (née Moore), who were married in Spraggs, Pennsylvania. His English paternal ancestors emigrated to America in the 17th century, originally settling in Queen Anne's County, Maryland. His brothers were named Willis, William and Ralph (who was called "Sid").
Knotts's mother was 40 years old at his birth. His father, who had schizophrenia and battled alcoholism, sometimes terrorized him with a knife, causing him to turn inwards at an early age. His father died of pneumonia when Knotts was 13. He and his brothers were subsequently raised by their mother, who ran a boarding 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.
Knotts graduated from Morgantown High School. After enlisting in the United States Army and serving in World War II, he earned a bachelor's degree in education with a minor in speech from West Virginia University in Morgantown, graduating in 1948. He was a member of Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity at WVU.
Before he entered high school, Knotts began performing as a ventriloquist and comedian at various church and school functions. 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. He toured the western Pacific Islands as a comedian, in a G.I. variety show called Stars and Gripes. His ventriloquist act included a dummy named Danny that Knotts grew to hate and eventually threw overboard, according to friend and castmate Al Checco.
Knotts served in the army from June 21, 1943, to January 6, 1946, in the Army's 6817th Special Services Battalion. He was discharged at the rank of Technician Grade 5, equivalent at the time to corporal. During his service, he was awarded the World War II Victory Medal, the Philippine Liberation Medal, the Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal (with four bronze service stars), the American Campaign Medal, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the Army Marksman Badge (with an M1 Carbine) and the Honorable Service Lapel Pin.
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 called Bobby Benson and the B-Bar-B Riders.
Knotts got his first break on television on the soap opera Search for Tomorrow, where he appeared from 1953 to 1955. He had a recurring role on the Howdy Doody show beginning in 1954 as "Tim Tremble". He came to fame in 1956 on Steve 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 with Andy Griffith in the Broadway stage version of No Time for Sergeants, in which he played two roles, listed in the Playbill as a Corporal Manual Dexterity and a Preacher. In 1958, he made his movie debut with Griffith in the film version of No Time for Sergeants, in which he reprised his Broadway role, playing a high-strung Air Force test administrator whose routine is disrupted by the hijinks of a provincial new recruit.
In 1960, Andy Griffith was offered the opportunity to headline his own sitcom, The Andy Griffith Show (1960–1968). Knotts took the role of Barney Fife, the deputy—and originally cousin—of Sheriff Andy Taylor (portrayed by Griffith). Knotts's portrayal of the deputy on the popular show earned for him five Emmy Awards for Best Supporting Actor in a Television Comedy.
A summary of the show from the website of the Museum of Broadcast Communications describes Deputy Barney Fife:
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.
When the show first aired, Griffith was intended to be the comedic lead with Knotts as his straight man, similar to their roles in No 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."
Knotts believed remarks by Griffith that The Andy Griffith Show would end after five seasons, and he began to look for other work, signing a five-film contract with Universal 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 the Raleigh, North Carolina, police force.
Knotts went on to star in a series of film comedies that drew on his high-strung persona from the television series. He had a cameo appearance in United Artists' It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), and starred in Warner Bros.' The Incredible Mr. Limpet (1964). Knotts began his Universal five-film contract with The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966), followed by The Reluctant Astronaut (1967), The Shakiest Gun in the West (1968), The Love God? (1969) and How to Frame a Figg (1971).