# Anthony Perkins vs. Don Knotts **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 4, 2006, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-perkins-vs-don-knotts/363125 "2006-07-04T02:56:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2006, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-perkins-vs-don-knotts/363125/1 "2006-07-04T02:56:23Z")
One played nervouse, twitchy psychopaths, the other played nervous, twitchy comic foils. Suppose their career paths had been different, and Don Knotts got the role of Norman Bates while Tony became Barney Fife. What sort of wacky hijinks would ensue? _Now Barney, you know you have to leave your 10-inch butcher knife in the sheath, in your pocket._ What other actors who played mirror image characters would you like to see switch roles? ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2006, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-perkins-vs-don-knotts/363125/2 "2006-07-04T03:23:01Z")
I’m pretty sure Barney wore the same dress as Norman when he went in drag to catch the shoplifter. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2006, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anthony-perkins-vs-don-knotts/363125/3 "2006-07-04T03:32:06Z")
You know, 90 percent of the time, Barney Fife wasn’t nervous or twitchy. Quick to whine or complain, sure, much like the characters Eddie Bracken used to play in the 1940s. But the “nervous guy” was really a different character that Don Knotts played in other venues.