Zailo.Com!

It seems to come in three as they say. First I heard of the passing of Don Knotts. Then I heard of Darren McGavin dying. And to top it off, right on the heels of that I heard about Dennis Weaver.

I actually felt bad about Don Knotts. I never went out of my way to see all things Knotts but I would not pass it up if it came my way. I think almost everyone could enjoy his brand of slapsticky yet almost ingenue like comedy. I am sure everybody remembers him as the bumbling deputy Fife from Mayberry. But he left the show to go off and make movies and he did. Off the top of my head you need to go out and find "The shakiest Gun in the west", "The Private Eyes" co-starring Tim Conway, and "The Ghost and Mr. Chicken". The last if only to see how people used to be able to make movies that were fun without worrying about wowing the audience with over the top special effects.

Darren McGavin's death is a shame because he was one of the character actors who you could see in like a hundred movies without having to worry about watching him get carried away. Unless you count "Nightstalker" Where he was the biggest spas who ever tried to chase a werewolf while trying to load a new roll of film into a camera and not drop his tape recorder or notepad. By the way I always hated that damn Christmas movie.

And as for Dennis Weaver everybody seems to only remember him as "McCloud" but every time I would see him in something I would recall him as the nebbish hotel clerk in "A Touch of Evil". And yeah "Duel" was cool and OK, he was cool as the dad in "Gentle Ben".

posted by zailo @ 12:15 AM

Tuesday, February 28, 2006