The Chris Moeller Archives

Death of a lawman

In a 2000 "60 Minutes" profile, Dan Rather asked Billy Bob Thornton to name his favorite actor of all time. Thornton replied resolutely, "Don Knotts." Why Don Knotts? "Don Knotts gave us the best character, the most clearly drawn, most perfect American, most perfect human ever-- the most quintessential American character of all-time, with Barney Fife."

Knotts died Saturday at the age of 81. His role as the fidgety police officer Fife spawned five Emmys over five years and a long performance career after for Knotts portraying underachieving, overcompensating bumblers you couldn't help but love.

Just a month ago, with my brother in town to watch the Super Bowl, we flipped past the classic Andy Griffith episode "Barney Joins the Choir," in which the Mayberry deputy's off-key singing threatened to sabotage the community concert. We both convulsed with laughter as Knotts' character discreetly offered to move around the choir stand and determine which singer was out of tune, completely oblivious to his own shortcomings. No one in the idyllic small town wanted to be the one to hurt Barney's feelings. Finally, just before the performance, Andy convinced Barney that he would be using a special state-of-the-art microphone for his solo-- one so acutely sensitive that Barney would barely have to mouth the words to deliver a commanding performance. Meanwhile, a talented bass singer had been positioned behind the curtain to perform the actual solo. When Barney opened his mouth to sing, the contrast of that deep off-screen voice with Knotts' rail-thin face and physique produced hysterics, and the look of pride in Barney's face nearly brought me to tears. The concert wound up a rousing success.

Knotts made "The Andy Griffith Show" the blockbuster television show it was, evidenced by the lower quality of the seasons that followed after he left the show to do films, but Knotts owes much to the show and its creator as well for the public's love affair with him. The marriage of Barney and Mayberry was made in heaven. Lovable "Barn" was plopped down in a fantasy 1960's North Carolina town that had no racial conflict or social unrest. Yet, the characterizations on the show debuted and then aged with such grace and humility of spirit that no one ever thinks twice about the program's lack of realism. The situation may not have been realistic, but the people were-- their foibles, their vanities, their pastimes, and their dreams. Indeed, those of us in the know find it a most remarkable achievement that a television program actually exists that could be called the favorite show of both Oprah Winfrey and my grandfather-- take my word, two very disparate human beings.

Don Knotts scored big laughs as Barney Fife, screaming bombastically at speeding motorists, jaywalkers, and town drunks, but I'll remember both the actor and the character just as much for their quiet dignity, displayed on-screen during the relaxed moments in Mayberry-- the dull afternoon at the sheriff's office or barbershop, or on the Taylor's porch during a charmed country evening. The characters on the Griffith show were real. Barney Fife was real. We wouldn't have loved him if he wasn't.

posted by CM @ 7:14 PM