Who played the town drunk Otis Campbell?

Who played the town drunk Otis Campbell? Hal Smith played Otis Campbell on The Andy Griffith Show.

Otis was Mayberry’s good-natured town drunk, usually shown letting himself into the jail so he could sleep off a binge. His exaggerated routine became one of the show’s recurring comic bits: instead of being arrested, Otis effectively checked himself into the cell.

The character was more than a generic drunk in the series’ background. Otis worked as a glue dipper in a furniture factory during the week and was portrayed as a familiar, accepted member of the community. Smith played him frequently from 1960 through 1967.

Otis appeared less often near the end of the series after sponsors raised concerns about depicting excessive drinking. The role is sometimes confused with other Mayberry parts, including county clerk Howard Sprague, played by Jack Dodson, and barber Floyd Lawson, played by Howard McNear.