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Barney Fife and Other Characters I Have Known
Fish. Chicken. Deputy. Icon. TV's beloved Don Knotts gives his millions of fans the book they've been waiting for.
Don Knotts recounts with warmth and humor the events that shaped his life and a career that spans half a his colorful childhood in his family's West Virginia boarding house; his hectic stint as a comic on the road, and as a rising star in the burgeoning days of live TV; his big break on Broadway in No Time for Sergeants ; his five-season, multi-award-winning portrayal of Mayberry's bumbling and beloved Barney Fife. With candor he takes us behind the scenes on the set of Three's Company , and behind the sets of his hugely successful film comedies. And he shares bittersweet memories of The Mayberry Reunion , and affectionate recollections of his professional and personal relationships with such legends as Andy Griffith, Jack Benny, Red Skelton, Orson Welles, Lou Costello, and Arthur Godfrey.
Here is the inside story of the comedic genius behind Mr. Limpit, Mr. Chicken, Barney Fife, and the other characters we've come to know. And love.
* With a foreword by Andy Griffith
Don Knotts recounts with warmth and humor the events that shaped his life and a career that spans half a his colorful childhood in his family's West Virginia boarding house; his hectic stint as a comic on the road, and as a rising star in the burgeoning days of live TV; his big break on Broadway in No Time for Sergeants ; his five-season, multi-award-winning portrayal of Mayberry's bumbling and beloved Barney Fife. With candor he takes us behind the scenes on the set of Three's Company , and behind the sets of his hugely successful film comedies. And he shares bittersweet memories of The Mayberry Reunion , and affectionate recollections of his professional and personal relationships with such legends as Andy Griffith, Jack Benny, Red Skelton, Orson Welles, Lou Costello, and Arthur Godfrey.
Here is the inside story of the comedic genius behind Mr. Limpit, Mr. Chicken, Barney Fife, and the other characters we've come to know. And love.
* With a foreword by Andy Griffith
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First published November 1, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
February 5, 2024
I liked the book very much and enjoyed the stories behind the scenes. It's not a full on biography [for instance, his multiple marriages each have less than a paragraph dedicated to them].
My biggest complaint would be the constant use of bad language [cursing, coarse language and the like] which was certainly not necessary and shrinks the pool of people to whom I would feel comfortable loaning my copy. But again, it felt like Don and I enjoyed the many anecdotes from his life and career.
My biggest complaint would be the constant use of bad language [cursing, coarse language and the like] which was certainly not necessary and shrinks the pool of people to whom I would feel comfortable loaning my copy. But again, it felt like Don and I enjoyed the many anecdotes from his life and career.
February 29, 2020
Don Knotts, great comedian, great autobiography.
September 2, 2020
I love Don Knotts but this was sort of disappointed with this book. It didn’t go into much detail. It’s just a collection of short snippets of his life. It was a good overview of his life.
June 4, 2023
"Barney Fife..." is more of a resume with elaboration than an autobiography or tell-all. Knotts spends some time on his childhood, which I found quite interesting, but his personal life is all but ignored once he reaches adulthood. Marriages, births, and divorces are duly noted with no more information than one would glean from Census Bureau records.
As for his professional life, Knotts is more forthcoming. He works through his career chronologically, with small personal tidbits to give each short segment a bit of flavor. The stories are all clean, in keeping with his reputation as a family-friendly entertainer, though they often had a "you had to be there" sort of quality, the humor not quite as riotous for those of us who are reading the stories after the fact.
Knotts does his share of name dropping, though, unlike so many other celebrity memoirs (cough - Tommy Randall, Barbara Eden - cough), he not only drops the big names like Jack Benny, Tim Conway, Bob Hope, etc., but just as often names the writers, crew members, and actors whose names we don't recognize. Almost all of the stories about his colleagues over the years are kind and generous. No snark, and the few somewhat negative stories are balanced with professional praise and personal fondness.
This is a quick, easy-to-read memoir that provides a time-line, and some mildly interesting stories of television through the decades, but if you're looking for lots of behind-the-scenes stories and celebrity gossip, you'll be disappointed. While that doesn't make this a riveting book, I respect Knotts all the more as a result.
As for his professional life, Knotts is more forthcoming. He works through his career chronologically, with small personal tidbits to give each short segment a bit of flavor. The stories are all clean, in keeping with his reputation as a family-friendly entertainer, though they often had a "you had to be there" sort of quality, the humor not quite as riotous for those of us who are reading the stories after the fact.
Knotts does his share of name dropping, though, unlike so many other celebrity memoirs (cough - Tommy Randall, Barbara Eden - cough), he not only drops the big names like Jack Benny, Tim Conway, Bob Hope, etc., but just as often names the writers, crew members, and actors whose names we don't recognize. Almost all of the stories about his colleagues over the years are kind and generous. No snark, and the few somewhat negative stories are balanced with professional praise and personal fondness.
This is a quick, easy-to-read memoir that provides a time-line, and some mildly interesting stories of television through the decades, but if you're looking for lots of behind-the-scenes stories and celebrity gossip, you'll be disappointed. While that doesn't make this a riveting book, I respect Knotts all the more as a result.
February 8, 2022
Don Knotts tells his story from his childhood growing up in Morgantown, WV through his fifty year career in theater, television, and movies.
He takes the reader through his "Andy Griffith" Show days through his movie career with Universal and Disney Studios, and his "Three's Company" days. While he wasn't working on these ventures he was always looking to work in any type of entertainment venues.
Reading this book is like sitting in a room with Jesse Donald Knotts as he tells his story.
He takes the reader through his "Andy Griffith" Show days through his movie career with Universal and Disney Studios, and his "Three's Company" days. While he wasn't working on these ventures he was always looking to work in any type of entertainment venues.
Reading this book is like sitting in a room with Jesse Donald Knotts as he tells his story.
December 21, 2017
Conversational format. Interesting stories. Totally enjoyable, just like his characters. Recommended.
July 7, 2020
Pretty good book. I would say it is more of a memoir due to the length and amount of personal data.
January 28, 2021
a fun read
December 29, 2021
Interesting, but not that great. Not too much behind the scenes info about the Andy Griffith Show.
April 20, 2022
Nothing insightful. Short book and not much written about each show. Short paragraphs were every show was great with a great cast.
July 3, 2022
Great little auto-biography by Don Knotts and Robert Metz on Don’s career. Well written and forwarded by Andy Griffith. Any Knotts fan will love this one. 218 pages and easy to read!
January 22, 2024
Wonderful succinct journey through the early life and career of Don Knotts
September 25, 2025
funny book
May 27, 2013
This disappointing book just covers the bare-boned basic of Don Knotts career, with few insightful stories and glossing over some of his best-known work. Sure, the Andy Griffith Show gets a little attention but not enough. He mentions some of his movies (but not all of them!), with a few only getting a paragraph, one gets just one sentence, and one he alludes to but doesn't even give the title of it! He also starred with some famous people (Doris Day, Lucille Ball) and has nothing to say about working with them! Knotts doesn't even talk about his marriages or kids beyond a one-sentence mention in the middle of another story.
One major problem with the structure of the book is that there are no dates. We have no idea when things occurred. He also has some of his TV ratings facts wrong and tends to overstate the success of some of his ventures. It's hard to believe there was a co-author working with Knotts because most of the book sounds like the star just told stories into a tape recorder that were transcribed to print.
The first fourth of the book is about his upbringing and while it's a little interesting he could have made it more concise--he doesn't seem to get that fans want to hear behind-the-scenes details of his famous screen work, which he provides little of here. It sounds like he's trying to be a really nice guy, praising everyone he ever worked with and over-praising Andy Griffith (who was notorious for not being so friendly and generous to all). In the end it sounds like he's Barney sitting on the porch stating minimal facts without really saying much that's interesting.
One major problem with the structure of the book is that there are no dates. We have no idea when things occurred. He also has some of his TV ratings facts wrong and tends to overstate the success of some of his ventures. It's hard to believe there was a co-author working with Knotts because most of the book sounds like the star just told stories into a tape recorder that were transcribed to print.
The first fourth of the book is about his upbringing and while it's a little interesting he could have made it more concise--he doesn't seem to get that fans want to hear behind-the-scenes details of his famous screen work, which he provides little of here. It sounds like he's trying to be a really nice guy, praising everyone he ever worked with and over-praising Andy Griffith (who was notorious for not being so friendly and generous to all). In the end it sounds like he's Barney sitting on the porch stating minimal facts without really saying much that's interesting.
May 19, 2015
History and (auto)biography are a couple of my favorite types of books to read, and I was very much looking forward to digging into Don Knott's life and career. While there are a number of amusing anecdotes, and he does go into some interesting details, I was a little disappointed by how superficial the whole thing was. It's not like I was expecting an earth-shaking expose, but I would have liked a little more perspective into his personal life than what there is. That being said, it was a fast-paced read and I was never bored. As far as star memoirs go, this is probably not one of the best, but it did satisfy a desire to learn more about one of my favorite comedic actors.
April 6, 2016
A somewhat thin collection of remembrances by one of the most popular comedic actors of his generation, the man who created Barney Fife. Strangely thin in recalling Mayberry as well, as certainly their must have been many more good stories. You almost get the feeling that this was perhaps based on early, and possibly incomplete, interviews, but it is still enjoyable to read and learn more about Knotts. I wonder if there is a more-critical and in-depth biography out there. The volume I read had terrible reproduction of the photographs.
September 3, 2013
This book was really fun and enjoyable to read. Just like Larry Harmon's autobiography this is the rare show business memoir that is completely free of gossip and scandal. The really great thing about this book is it's conversational style. You can almost hear Don Knotts telling you these stories over a cup of coffee. I highly recommend this book for any fans of Barney Fife or Ralph Furley.
July 21, 2012
humorous look at Don Knott's career, felt like the reader was sitting down to a nice chat with him, could have had more info about his personal life
August 2, 2014
An autobiography of Don Knotts. The book is not exhaustive. But, it is an enjoyable read for those wanting to find out the basics of Knotts' life and career.
September 22, 2014
Amusing auto-bio.
February 23, 2025
An interesting survey, not only of the life of Don Knotts, but also the entire entertainment industry as he navigated through it and participated in it.
Quick, fun read.
Quick, fun read.
February 10, 2008
don knotts is the greatest!
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews