THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW, Andy Griffith, Don Knotts, 'The New Doctor', (Season 1, aired March 27, 1961), 1960-68 Courtesy Everett Collection More Until he wasn't.

Don Knotts played a variation on the same character for more than 50 years -- on radio, in movies and TV shows. He was the "nervous man" on the old "Steve Allen Show," the sublime Barney Fife on ...

Don Knotts was one of those rare actors who could make you laugh without saying a word. Best remembered as the loveably bumbling Deputy Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show, or as Ralph Furley in ...

Until he wasn't. Five seasons into the show's run, Don Knotts departed, creating a vacuum that could never be filled and resulting in The Andy Griffith Show never being the same again.