# Don Knotts and Fred Rogers.... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 17, 2006, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-knotts-and-fred-rogers/357083 "2006-05-17T06:49:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-knotts-and-fred-rogers/357083/1 "2006-05-17T06:49:30Z")
… seem to be the only names I can come up with of personalities whom I would consider to be the same in real life as they are on my television screen, so who am I missing? I started to add the late Jim Henson to the list, but realized I don’t know that much about him except that he created the Muppets and Rawlf the Dog on the Jimmy Dean show, (and also the mighty Fawog (?) on SNL) Please help me out here, y’all! Thanks Quasi ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-knotts-and-fred-rogers/357083/2 "2006-05-17T06:58:38Z")
Don Knott’s most famous character was Barney Fife. Every game show host can be added. Then there’s all those shows where the main character and the actor(ess) in the role have the same first name, but different last names. ---
**Author:** ![DrMemory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@DrMemory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrMemory)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-knotts-and-fred-rogers/357083/3 "2006-05-17T10:28:36Z")
John Candy, while although I only talked with him for a short while, seemed to be just the same, sweet guy he was in movies and TV. My goodness, I haven’t thought of Skred and the Mighty Favog, in a long while. I have another for ya…Dabney Colman…yes, he’s an ass in real life, too. ---
**Author:** ![flickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7bcc69/32.png) [@flickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flickster)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-knotts-and-fred-rogers/357083/4 "2006-05-17T11:39:38Z")
I recall hearing that Don Knotts was exactly opposite of the Barney Fife character in real life, as was Andy Griffith. ---
**Author:** ![Tenar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@Tenar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tenar)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-knotts-and-fred-rogers/357083/5 "2006-05-17T12:26:53Z")
> [@flickster](#): > > I recall hearing that Don Knotts was exactly opposite of the Barney Fife character in real life, as was Andy Griffith. I don’t know about Andy Griffith, but I agree with flickster about Don Knotts. I don’t think he was a total high strung lunatic in real life. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-knotts-and-fred-rogers/357083/6 "2006-05-17T12:35:53Z")
William Frawly is supposed to be pretty much the same as Fred Mertz off camera. In fact he was so hated, that (from what I’ve heard) Desi, Lucy and William’s manager opened a bottle of champagne when they heard he died. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-knotts-and-fred-rogers/357083/7 "2006-05-17T12:37:19Z")
Evidently, Jimmy (Dodd) of the Mousketeers was the same in real life as on TV. Just a sweet guy. ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-knotts-and-fred-rogers/357083/8 "2006-05-17T13:04:00Z")
> [@flickster](#): > > I recall hearing that Don Knotts was exactly opposite of the Barney Fife character in real life, as was Andy Griffith. Fife wasn’t the only role he played. I think our OP remembers him more from his movies than the TV roles of Barney and Mr. Furley. You gotta admit that he and Tim Conway made the Apple Dumpling Gang watchable. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-knotts-and-fred-rogers/357083/9 "2006-05-17T13:45:59Z")
My understanding is that **Garry Shandling** pretty much played himself in _It’s Garry Shandling’s Show_ and _The Larry Sanders Show_. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-knotts-and-fred-rogers/357083/10 "2006-05-17T14:07:19Z")
> [@Homebrew](#): > > Fife wasn’t the only role he played. I think our OP remembers him more from his movies than the TV roles of Barney and Mr. Furley. You gotta admit that he and Tim Conway made the Apple Dumpling Gang watchable. So maybe the OP is thinking that, underneath the layers of artiface that all actors must necessarily assume to successfully ply their trade, Don Knotts really was a fish? ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-knotts-and-fred-rogers/357083/11 "2006-05-17T14:23:36Z")
I’d venture that Jim Neighbors, while not Gomer Pyle stupid, probably has the same overall outgoing disposition in real life. Wow, Don Knotts was married three times. There’s no way Barney would get that kind of leg. Totally different people.  ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-knotts-and-fred-rogers/357083/12 "2006-05-17T15:23:53Z")
Tom Hanks seems to be similar in real life to his movie roles. Even Kip/Buffy in his TV role in **Bosom Buddies** was similar. Same with James Garner. In his first TV series, **Maverick** , the concept of the character was changed early on to fit Garner’s personality. He also had a strong sense of justice (like Rockford), taking his production companies to court to make them fulfill their contracts. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-knotts-and-fred-rogers/357083/13 "2006-05-17T15:25:45Z")
Terrifyingly, Mae West was pretty much “Mae West” offscreen. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-knotts-and-fred-rogers/357083/14 "2006-05-17T16:17:04Z")
I was surprised to learn that the character of Harold T. Stone on _Night Court_ was _not_ created with Harry Anderson in mind. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-knotts-and-fred-rogers/357083/15 "2006-05-17T17:45:55Z")
I started the exact opposite of this thread last month, \*\*What Celebrities have wholly artificial public personas? \*\* > **[What Celebrities have wholly artificial public personas?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=368417)** > > I was listening to the radio on my way to work the other day, and heard Adam Carolla talking about a character he used to do on various call-in shows. He remembered talking with one radio executive who told him that the character was funny, he would... ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-knotts-and-fred-rogers/357083/16 "2006-05-17T19:13:13Z")
Reportedly Telly Savalas was pretty much the same off or on camera. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-knotts-and-fred-rogers/357083/17 "2006-05-17T19:18:01Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > Terrifyingly, Mae West was pretty much “Mae West” offscreen. Are there any bio’s that support this? I remember seeing a list once claiming that Mae West slept with hundreds of people. I remain highly sceptical. :dubious: :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-knotts-and-fred-rogers/357083/18 "2006-05-17T19:24:24Z")
Actually, the Mae West thing is interesting. If she really was “Mae West” off screen, was “Mae West” the way she really and truly was? Or was it a character that she played even off camera? If you play a character your entire life and never break character, even to your spouse, children, closest friends, and substance abuse counselor, is that character the “real you”? ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-knotts-and-fred-rogers/357083/19 "2006-05-17T19:57:24Z")
I met Burt Reynolds once. Seemed pretty full of himself (but not a total asshole), just like the characters he usually plays. I’ve never met Jerry Reed but I can easily imagine him as the fun-lovin’, good natured country fellow he has portrayed on the screen and in the songs he sung. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2006, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-knotts-and-fred-rogers/357083/20 "2006-05-17T20:21:55Z")
I’ve met Tommy Kirk twice, and like most of his Disney roles, he was/is the kindest, sweetest man. Just absolutely approachable, and he has a fantastic memory–two years after our first meeting he recalled me by name and asked about a couple projects I had mentioned before. He is far more levelheaded than his characters, though he mostly played baffled teens. Sir Rhosis [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/don-knotts-and-fred-rogers/357083.md?page=2)