Barney Fife - My Hero

By Frank Campbell - February 2006

Editor's note: This article was written in February of 2006 at the time of Don Knott's death.

The story goes that when Don Knotts found out that Andy Griffith would be playing a small-town sheriff on his upcoming new television series, The Andy Griffith Show, Knotts called Griffith to ask "aren't you going to need a deputy?" That question changed television history, American popular culture and all of our lives because not only did Sheriff Andy Taylor need a deputy, we all needed Barney Fife.

Knotts's accomplishments in the role of Barnard P. Fife speak for themselves: five seasons, five Emmy nominations, five Emmy wins. When Knotts left the show to pursue a motion-picture career at Universal Studios, The Andy Griffith Show, in the current vernacular, jumped the shark. The show ran another three seasons and finished in the top 10 Nielsen rankings every year it was on, which is another remarkable accomplishment. But when Don Knotts left, he took the heart and soul of the show with him.

To Andy Griffith's credit, he was smart enough to realize early on that he should play the straight man to Knotts's comic genius. Few performers, especially the star of a television show, would have been as gracious and unselfish but he knew what would work best for the show, as did the brilliant team of writers, directors and character actors who worked so hard to create an indelible American classic.

Griffith has said that they didn't do jokes on The Andy Griffith Show, they did character comedy and it worked to perfection. He's also said that the main theme of the show, never forcefully stated, but implicit in every episode, was love. Both onscreen and off, Andy Griffith and Don Knotts had a chemistry that was real, there was no faking it. They were good friends who truly loved each other and that love and affection showed in every thing they did together. They not only made a great comic team but they also gave us two fully realized, living, breathing human beings. Throughout the history of popular culture, there are certain actors who have come to be so closely associated with certain roles that it's impossible to think of them as anything but those characters, no matter what other roles they've played before and since.

Sean Connery is James Bond, George Reeves is Superman, Clayton Moore is the Lone Ranger, Peter Sellers is Inspector Clouseau, Bela Lugosi is Dracula and Don Knotts is and shall ever be Barney Fife. That role has granted him immortality.

Even though production of The Andy Griffith Show ceased almost forty years ago, the show has never been off the air. It is seen every day, not only in the United States but also throughout the world and with the advent of modern technology such as DVDs, all of the episodes can now be collected and enjoyed over and over and over again. Does it really matter how many times we've seen any given episode? We still watch, we still laugh, we still learn.

Because while wise and levelheaded Andy Taylor was teaching his son Opie the ways of the world, he was also teaching his friend and deputy Barney Fife. But I submit that Barney Fife taught us as well. Sure he was vain, proud, over-confident, over-eager, gullible, nervous, bumbling, etc. But he was also loyal, dedicated, steadfast, kind, warm-hearted and a very, very decent man. We laugh at Barney because in so many ways, there's a little bit of Barney in each and every one of us. And underneath all of the compelsions, therapetics, kleptomineracs, and electronal marvels, Barney showed us how to be a real and true friend. Mayberry, North Carolina is one of those fictional locales that we all wish we could visit from time to time. It ranks up there with Brigadoon, Shangri-La and Camelot as a place where our better selves are realized.

But tonight in Mayberry, the duck pond is quiet, even though there's a moon out. The marquee at the Grand is dim. The diner is closed and Juanita has the night off. There's no special on the menu tonight at Morelli's. The switchboard is silent because Sarah isn't there. Mrs. Mendelbright just put a vacancy sign in her window, Mrs. Wiley's party has been cancelled and Ernest T. Bass has put down his rocks. Otis Campbell has given up drink (just for tonight) and Floyd Lawson has put on his best hand-painted tie and done a little "touch up, touch up" on his grey hair. Gomer Pyle has come home from the Marines on leave and he and cousin Goober have put on their best plainclothes. Wally's Service Station is closed, as is Foley's Market and Fred Goss's dry cleaners. Skinflint Ben Weaver has closed his department store, the first non-Christmas Day closing of his store, ever. The Darlins are in town and Briscoe, Dub, Charlene and the boys are all dressed in their Sunday best. The Fun Girls, Daphne and Skippy, just rolled in from Mount Pilot, albeit in a subdued mood. The lights are off at the Taylor house. Andy, Opie and Aunt Bee left a few minutes ago for the church. They picked up Helen and Thelma Lou on the way. Yes, Mayberry is dark and quiet and unguarded tonight.

Everyone has gathered to pay their respects to one Barnard P. Fife, a small, wiry man who nevertheless stands forever proud and tall. He taught us a lot, that Barney Fife. He made us laugh. He was a good friend. He is my hero.

Frank Campbell, an Austin writer, is the Community Relations Manager for Barnes & Noble in Round Rock, Texas. A native Austinite and graduate of Brykerwoods Elementary School, Austin High School and the University of Texas, he is one of Austin's most astute film buffs and is considered by many to be the city's foremost expert on James Bond films. Campbell lives in Manor, Texas with his wife Judy and their son Grady.

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