Don Knotts will always be one of the funniest guys to grace our television sets. One of his most beloved roles was playing Sheriff Andy Taylor’s hilarious sidekick, Deputy Barney Fife, on Return To Mayberry and The Andy Griffith Show, the classic sitcom that earned him five Emmy Awards. He also played John Ritter’s hilarious landlord Ralph Furley on Three’s Company among countless other memorable roles throughout his celebrated career including roles on Matlock, The Steve Allen Show and his own variety show The Don Knotts Show.
In addition to being a lead character on numerous TV shows, Knotts was the go-to funny man in Hollywood with an incredibly successful film career. Feature films like Gus, The Prize Fighter, No Time for Sergeants, Move Over, Darling, Wake Me When It’s Over, and The Last Time I Saw Archie have become beloved classics. Knotts continued appearing in films like Pleasantville later in his career and frequently had voiceover roles in films including Air Buddies (his final role), Disney’s Chicken Little, and Cats Don’t Dance.
Though it’s hard to narrow down, these are the 11 best Don Knotts movies.
1. Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo
The third installment in the Herbie The Love Bug series brings Knotts in as new character Wheely Applegate, race car driver Jim Douglas’s eccentric mechanic. They prepare to take the beloved Beatle on a race from Paris to Monte Carlo.
2. The Incredible Mr. Limpet
In this live-action/animated comedy, Knotts plays the character Henry Limpet, a shy bookkeeper who loves fish so much he ends up turning into one. During the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941, he helps the U.S. Navy from the ocean and gets other fish involved.
3. The Reluctant Astronaut
Roy Fleming is a spaceship ride operator in Missouri. He gets accepted as a janitor at NASA although his parents believe that he is going to be an astronaut. When the Russians decide to send a dentist into space, Roy is selected as the least likely to go to space and NASA sends him up. It’s a sweet story of the underdog pulling through.
4. The Love God
This was one of Knotts’s first roles in more of an adult film after starring in a slew of G-rated Disney movies. The comedian played the role of Abner Audubon Peacock IV who owns a bird watching magazine that is in financial trouble. When he brings in a new partner it gets turned into a “gentleman’s magazine” and Abner is thrown into a new life as a playboy.
5. No Deposit, No Return
In this film, two children hold themselves ransom with help from criminal Duke and his eccentric sidekick Bert (played by Knotts). Knotts does what he does best, playing the loveable number two who will constantly keep you laughing.
