Happy birthday Don Knotts

We're huge fans of the immortal Don Knotts and wanted to give him a shout-out on what would have been his 90th birthday. We had the pleasure of stopping by his hometown of Morgantown, West Virginia a while back. Click here to read all about it.

Well, gaw-lee! Scenes from Mt. Airy, North Carolina, the real Mayberry

Mr. Emmett Forrest stands next to the statue of his lifelong friend and fellow Mount Airy native Andy Griffith in front of the Andy Griffith Museum.

This wonderful statue of Andy and Opie walking to the fishing hole was commissioned by the TV Land network.

Mr. Forrest has assembled his impressive collection of Andy memorabilia into the Andy Griffith Museum. In it you'll find Andy's sheriff uniform (from Nudie's Rodeo Tailors of Hollywood) and the seersucker jacket he wore on "Matlock", Barney's salt-and-pepper suit, worn on dates with Thelma Lou and cut just right for dancing the dip, Goober's Jughead-style cap, and Otis's rumpled jacket and hat, not to mention tons of scripts, posters and other mementos from Andy's impressive and long career. 

No pictures were allowed inside the museum but I did take advantage of this photo op in the lobby. That's Betty Lynn as Thelma Lou.

Betty Lynn moved to Mt. Airy several years ago and makes frequent appearances around town.

Visitors interested in the full Andy Griffith experience can stay a night or two in the real Andy's childhood house, a modest middle class bungalow on East Haymore Street and now rented out by the Hampton Inn folks.

 Along Main Street, gift shops are bursting with "T.A.G.S." souvenirs...

The Snappy Lunch, in business since 1923, was mentioned by Andy in the "Andy, The Matchmaker" episode. They're known for their pork chop sandwiches.

Mount Airy also has a recreation of Wally's Filling Station, where Gomer and Goober plied their trade. You can take a tour of Mount Airy in an early 60s Ford Galaxy squad car just like the one Andy and Barney used to patrol the mean streets of Mayberry. 

 Old dead-eye Barney keeps watch over the Vera Bradley merchandise.

In 2002, Gov. Mike Easley dedicated 10 miles of US 52 from Interstate 74 to the Virginia state line The Andy Griffith Parkway.

 The faux Mayberry Courthouse

 The oddest souvenir in Mount Airy: Andy, Barney, Opie and Goober dressed up as Kiss

The Andy Griffith Show is such a part of the character of Mount Airy, they put Andy and Opie on the water tower.

The northwestern North Carolina town of Mount Airy was where Andy Griffith grew up and he used it as the inspiration for Mayberry, the fictional locale of his classic 1960s TV series, "The Andy Griffith Show". Even though "T.A.G.S." went off the air in the late 60s, Mount Airy still celebrates their favorite son all over the older downtown area. Mount Airy is actually a pretty big place now, with a Walmart, motels, fast food and a population of over 10,000. But if you head to the old downtown area, you can still get a taste of the small town that Andy loved. And don't that beat everything.

Ask Knotts what your country can do for you: Scenes from Don Knotts' hometown

Everyone's favorite inept small town deputy Barney Fife, immortalized by Morgantown, West Virginia's Don Knotts

 "You could say there are three reasons why there's so little crime in Mayberry. There's Andy, there's me, and baby makes three."

 Barney Fife, master of disguise...

 ...scholar...

 ...ladies' man.

 Don started his show biz career as a ventriloquist...

 ...and went on to star in movies...

 ...and as Mr. Furley.

 Morgantown honored Don with Don Knotts Boulevard.

 Morgantown High, Don's alma mater.

 Morgantown also honored Don with a star on the sidewalk in front of the Metropolitan Theatre.

As a comic actor, everything about Don Knotts was funny. Funny bulging eyes, funny gaunt face, funny fish lips, funny high-pitched voice, funny trembling hands, funny sunken chest. It was Knotts' great fortune to luck into the role he was meant to play, inept small-town deputy Barney Fife opposite his real-life friend Andy Griffith on "The Andy Griffith Show." Taking advantage of Knotts' characteristics, the show's writers (including Griffith and Knotts) molded Barney into someone with too much pride, too little smarts, too much emotion, too much bravado and yet, and this was Knotts' genius as an actor, someone you didn't want to see get hurt. Even though Barney is a fool and drives Andy crazy, Andy goes to great extremes to make sure Barney's pride doesn't get shattered because, deep down, Barney is a good guy and a good friend.

Knotts grew up in Morgantown, West Virginia and went to Morgantown High School. He had dreams of a show business career after high school and went to New York City with a ventriloquism act that wasn't successful, so he returned to Morgantown and went to West Virginia University. After college and a stint in the Army, Don's career began to take off and his appearance with Griffith in the movie "No Time For Sergeants" led to his signature part of Barney years later. After "The Andy Griffith Show," Don starred in movies and as one more memorable TV character, Mr. Furley, the leisure suit and toupee-wearing landlord on "Three's Company." He also appeared several times on his old friend Andy's "Matlock" series.

They're proud of Don in Morgantown and have honored him with a few tributes. Busy route 119 in and out of town was renamed Don Knotts Boulevard, and the sidewalk in front of the Metropolitan Theatre, where Don has performed, has a star, Hollywood Walk Of Fame style, with his name and likeness on it. In 2007, it was announced the Knotts family had given permission for a statue of Don to be erected in Morgantown and put up in a new garden park to be designed in a prominent location in town. As recently as this year, fundraising efforts for this project were still in the works. We sure hope this comes to light because, according to his daughter, Don liked his hometown very much and he went on to have such a great career.

And to those who say I'm making too big a deal of Don Knotts, I'd like to say "Nip it! Nip it in the bud!"