A DREAMER AND HIS DREAM
Let me tell you, Jesse hated this job. And you would too, I imagine, if
you had to do it. Jesse was a chicken plucker. That's right.
He stood on a line in a chicken factory and spent his days pulling the feathers off dead chickens so the rest of us wouldn't have to.
It wasn't much of a job.
But at the time, Jesse didn't think he was much of a person.
His father was a brute of a man.
His dad was actually thought to be mentally ill
and
treated Jesse rough all of his life.
Jesse's older brother wasn't much better.
He was always picking on Jesse and beating him up.
Yes, Jesse grew up in a very rough home in West Virginia .
Life was anything but easy.
And he thought life didn't hold much hope for him.
That's why he was standing in this chicken line, doing a job that darn few people wanted.
In addition to all the rough treatment at home, it seems that Jesse was
always sick.
Sometimes it was real physical illness, but way too often it was all in
his head. He was a small child, skinny and meek.
That sure didn't help the situation any.
When he started to school, he was the object of every bully on the
playground.
He was a hypochondriac of the first order.
For Jesse, tomorrow was not always something to be looked forward to.
But, he had dreams.
He wanted to be a ventriloquist.
He found books on ventriloquism.
He practiced with sock puppets and saved his hard earned dollars until he
could get a real ventriloquist dummy.
When he got old enough, he joined the military.
And even though many of his hypochondriac symptoms persisted, the
military did recognize his talents and put him in the entertainment corp.
That was when his world changed.
He gained confidence.
He found that he had a talent for making people laugh, and laugh so hard
they often had tears in their eyes.
Yes, little Jesse had found himself.
You know, folks, the history books are full of people who overcame a
handicap to go on and make a success of themselves, but Jesse is one of
the few I know of who didn't overcome it.
Instead he used his paranoia to make a million dollars, and become one of
the best-loved characters of all time in doing it!
Yes, that little paranoid hypochondriac, who transferred his nervousness
into a successful career, still holds the record for the most Emmy's given
in a single category.
The wonderful, gifted, talented, and nervous comedian who brought us
Barney Fife
was
Jesse Don Knotts.
NOW YOU KNOW, "THE REST OF THE STORY"
He sure was loved. What an excellent comedian.
"It is usually the "crazy" ones that are crazy enough, to think they can change the world, and they do." Steve Jobs, Computer Engineer and Creator
Wow! A hypochondriac plucking feathers at a chicken factory? It's a good thing he didn't know about salmonela (sp?) poisoning back then! ;) Isn't it funny what hindsight does for your outlook? Sometimes it's good we don't know.
I still remember watching him! He made the show as entertaining as - isn't that funny, I can't seem to remember his name and he was the star of the show! OH! The Andy Griffith Show! -Andy Griffith, who I also loved. What a great show between the two of them, and Aunt "Bee" was a honey!
Great memories, Chickie! Thanks for that - where do you find these things?..............
Nice surprise to come in and be reminded of this...
Thanks Chickie,i love this story too!!!
I always enjoyed the Andy Griffith show,now if i ever see any of the reruns,i will always remember this story.
Thanks for sharing :)
Wasn't he hilarious, MominW? I don't think I've ever laughed at any commedian like I did him!! It was very innocent but so funny. He gave so much to us.