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Fans of The Andy Griffith Show would see Hal Smith in public and ask him if he was sober
"I don't know if they think I'm an actor or a drunk," he said.
A man is certainly not the character that he plays, but sometimes he's a good enough actor that he leaves people with that impression.
In today's television, a character like Otis on The Andy Griffith Show might be cause for alarm, with some overly concerned viewers worrying the character would leave a bad impression on those watching, especially if they were children.
In fact, these murmurings did exist during the original airing of The Andy Griffith Show, despite the fact that creator Sheldon Leonard was doing nothing to imply that a character like Otis is someone to be envied or worshipped. This was only emphasized by the fact that Hal Smith, best known for playing Otis, couldn't have been farther from the character in his everyday life.
According to an interview with The Miami Herald, Smith was willing to wager that he drank less than the typical man, and especially less when compared to his fellow actors.
Still, this didn't stop people from assuming that Smith was exactly like his character in real life.
"Strangers come up to me and ask if I'm sober," Smith said. "Others are surprised to see me walking the streets, figuring I should be in jail."
It was a concern that didn't just affect Smith, but his family as well. "My boy goes to a private school and when I take him there, the other kids give me funny looks," Smith said to The Times Recorder. "I don't know if they think I'm an actor or a drunk. I am sure my boy knows this is show business."
Even so, Smith was happy with his role as Otis, mainly for its ease.
"I do a show on the average of once every three weeks and I think that's good," he said. "The town drunk could get obnoxious."
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or Officers Malloy and Reed. The desk sergeants were trained to say -
"they're on vacation, I'll tell them you dropped in".
I don't know if this still goes on, but it was still happening in the 1990's.
He played a fey florist on "Peter Gunn", so I guess that makes him gay too.
Speaking of actors playing drunks, my other favorite would be Foster Brooks. He plays a marvelous drunk also.
