Shakiest gun in the west!

I was raised in a traditional family with 3 brothers and both parents. As the only orthopedic surgeon in Barrie for much of my early years, my father worked long hours and we four "warts" made my mom's life both challenging and entertaining, so it made perfect sense that she would embrace any habit that would captivate our attention, prompting a calming serenity in an otherwise chaotic environment.

As a result, my mom established a weekly tradition, and although it might sound a little old fashioned to today's youngsters, when we gathered in our family room with our TV tables for our Sunday night dinner watching The Wide World of Disney. It was our childhood Nirvana! I'm THIS OLD that our family regularly ate the evening's meal at he dinner table, so while eating in front of a screen is nothing strange these days, it was paramount to rebellion back then, and an absolute delight to my brothers and I. In my childhood house, TV was a treat, not a babysitter! For those that aren't of my vintage, my early years were filled with waiting patiently each week for our favourite shows to be broadcast since there were no VHS machines, DVD players, or steaming devices. We did get a BetaMax when I was in late elementary or early high school (I can't remember exactly when) but by then we were 10+ years into the weekly thrill of Disney. Although my recall is a little fuzzy, I'm pretty certain that I was first introduced to the hilarious genius of Don Knotts and his role of dentist Jesse Heywood in "The Shakiest Gun in the West" (Wikipedia). 

I thought that Knotts was the funniest actor I had ever watched!

As the years passed, some of his other films were highlighted on TWWOD, including The Apple Dumpling Gang (link), The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again (link), The Reluctant Astronaut (link), and Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo (link). I took a quick look around and if someone subscribes to Disney+, you might find a copy of those movies, but they don't make films like them these days. Knotts quickly landed in my top three beloved childhood comedic actors, along with Tim Conway, Peter Sellers, and Carol Burnett.

I'm really showing my age right now!

It was around that same time that I discovered the loveable, laughable, bumbling deputy sidekick Barney Fife portrayed by Knotts on The Andy Griffith Show, joined soon after that by other shows appearing on the weekly docket like Three's Company.

Although I dearly loved Knotts' comedic genius, it never crossed my mind to find out more about his early life until I scrolled across a social media post about him, and my mind was blown by his backstory. 

Based on that post, and what I uncovered on Wikipedia, I found out that Don Knotts' legal name is Jesse Don Knotts. His mother was 40 years old when Jesse was born, and he grew up in a very rough home in Morgantown, West Virginia. Jesse’s father, who had a mentally disability with schizophrenia, was a violent alcoholic who was abusive to Jesse. At 13, his father died leaving his mother to take care of him and his brothers. At the time, things weren’t easy for Jesse and he didn’t think life held much hope for him. 

While Jesse had his struggles, he had dreams too. He wanted to be a ventriloquist and he found books on ventriloquism. He practiced with sock puppets and saved his money until he could get a real ventriloquist dummy. When he was old enough, he joined the military. The military recognized his talents and placed him in the entertainment corp. He toured the western Pacific Islands as a comedian in a G.I. variety show called "Stars and Gripes.” It was there he was able to share his talents with fellow soldiers. 

In 1946, he discharged with rank of Technician Grade 5, which was the equivalent then of a Corporal. During his military service, Jesse was awarded the World War II Victory Medal, Philippine Liberation Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (with 4 bronze service stars), Army Good Conduct Medal, Marksman Badge (with an M1 Carbine) and Honourable Service lapel pin. Through his military service, Jesse gained confidence and found that he had a talent for making people laugh.

After his military career, Knotts returned to West Virginia and completed his post secondary degree at WVU. His early acting career featured Soap Opera's like Search for Tomorrow, and variety shows like The Steve Allen Show, before his film debut in 1958 with No Time for Sergeants, but it was truly the role of Barney Fiffe that launched a stellar, award winning career. The website of the Museum of Broadcast Communications describes Deputy Barney Fife as 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.

According to wikipedia, Knotts went on to enjoy a long acting career, even securing a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2000, becoming so beloved to his home of Morgantown that the council renamed South University Avenue to Don Knotts Boulevard in 1998. 

Unfortunately, time caught up with Knotts, and advanced Macular degeneration eventually forced him into retirement, with his final role as the voice of the sheriff's deputy dog Sniffer in Air Bud, released in 2006. Knotts died at age 81 on February 24, 2006, at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles from pulmonary and respiratory complications of pneumonia related to lung cancer. Obituaries cited him as a major influence on other entertainers.

As the saying goes, nothing lasts forever, but thanks to Disney+ and the Internet, the genius of Jesse Don Knotts can be enjoyed by millions for the ages to come.

I'm a little late, but RIP my good man, and thanks for the laughs!