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Don Knotts once sparred with Muhammad Ali
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It's hard for a lot of younger people to grasp just how famous Muhammad Ali was in the '60s and '70s. Yes, everyone has some understanding of Ali as a boxing great. But, there's no easy comparison between Ali and another sports figure who became the same kind of icon. Sure, Michael Jordan reached similar heights, but there are no great tales of Jordan's quick-witted put-downs or racial barrier-defying cool. Jordan was great as a sports figure. Ali was great as a pop culture figure.
Muhammad Ali was cool.
One person who was decidedly not cool was Don Knotts. He was, for lack of a better term, professionally uncool. Knotts built his career around shakiness, unease, and a hapless type of false confidence. As a nightclub performer, Knotts perfected a "Nervous Man" routine that made him famous. As Barney Fife, Knotts added depth to this characterization, supplementing that nervousness with an unearned self-assuredness.
In nearly every way, Don Knotts was the opposite of Muhammad Ali. So, what better way to highlight the contrasting personalities than to have both men step into the ring together? In Knotts' 1999 memoir, Barney Fife, and Other Characters I Have Known, the former Mayberry deputy regales readers with the story of how he met the boxing champion during a PR tour for The Shakiest Gun in the West.
"Muhammad Ali was in town training for his next fight. This gave our PR man an idea for some publicity. He asked Muhammad's people if Muhammad would consider posing for some pictures, sparring around with me with the boxing gloves on. Much to my surprise, Muhammad said okay.
"The next afternoon, we went over to his quarters and took the pictures. I enjoyed doing it. He was a lot of fun. I told him I was going to say a few words onstage that night before my movie, and I invited him to come on over and see it. He said, 'I'll do that, I'll bring my friends.' I said, 'Say, do you want to come up onstage with me and spar around? We could get some fun out of that.' He said, 'Let's do it. I'll be in the audience. You introduce me.'"
Despite a faux pas on Knotts' part, the evening went smoothly, and the actor had plenty of praise to heap upon his new athletic friend.
"Muhammad had recently become a Muslim and had changed his name from Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali, but the news hadn't gotten to me yet. So when I introduced him onstage that night, I called him Cassius Clay. I gave him a big buildup, then said, 'Come on up here, Cassius.' The audience applauded and applauded and I wanted and waited, but he didn't come up. Then I heard my PR man in the wings calling in a desperate stage whisper, 'Muhammad Ali! His name is Muhammad Ali.' So I said, 'Come on up here, Muhammad Ali,' and up he came.
"We put on the gloves and sparred around and got a lot of laughs. I ran into Muhammad several times after that, and he always greeted me like an old friend. What a spectacular man he is!"
Knotts learned an important lesson that night. If a fellow has a snapping jab like Ali's, you refer to him by whatever name he pleases.
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and I partied with Hugh Hefner
