Don Knotts won five Emmy Awards for playing Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show. His portrayal of Mayberry's nervous, boastful deputy made him one of television's most acclaimed comedy performers of the 1960s.
Knotts won the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 1961, 1962, 1963, 1966, and 1967. The awards recognized his distinctive performance as Barney, whose confidence routinely exceeded his practical abilities and whose single bullet for the sheriff's pistol became a recurring joke.
The role grew out of Knotts's earlier partnership with Andy Griffith in the film No Time for Sergeants. Although Griffith was initially expected to be the main comic figure, the series quickly shifted its comic balance: Andy played the calm straight man while Knotts's anxious Barney generated much of the humor.
Knotts left the regular cast after season five to pursue films, but returned for five guest appearances during the final three seasons. Those later appearances do not change the total: his Emmy count for Barney Fife was five, not six.