John Forrest "Fuzzy" Knight (May 9, 1901 – February 23, 1976) was an American film and television actor. He was also a singer, especially in his early career. He appeared in more than 180 films between 1928 and 1967, usually as a cowboy hero's comic sidekick.

Biography

Knight was born in

Fairmont, West Virginia Fairmont is a city in Marion County, West Virginia, United States, and its county seat. The population was 18,313 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in West Virginia, eighth-most populous city in ...

, the third child and son of James A. and Olive Knight. In Fairmont, he worked as a clerk at a hotel and played in a theater orchestra. He attended nearby

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Ins ...

Corneau, Ernest. ''Hall of Fame of Western Film Stars''. Christopher Publishing, 1969, p. 235 where he was a member of

Sigma Nu Sigma Nu () is an undergraduate Fraternities and sororities in North America, college fraternity founded at the Virginia Military Institute in 1869. Since its founding, Sigma Nu has chartered more than 279 chapters across the United States and Ca ...

fraternity, a cheerleader and law student. He wrote a pep song, "Fight Mountaineers," which is still frequently used by the Mountaineer Marching Band 90 years later. He also wrote the melody for a WVU song titled "To Thee Our Alma Mater," with words by fellow graduate David A. Christopher. He formed his own band in college and played drums, eventually leaving school to perform in vaudeville and in big bands such as Irving Aaronson's and George Olsen's.Fuzzy Knight obituary, Variety, March 3, 1976 Eventually his musical and comedy skills took him to New York, where he appeared in ''

Earl Carroll Earl Carroll (September 16, 1893 – June 17, 1948) was an American theatrical producer, director, writer, songwriter and composer. Early life Carroll was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1893. He lived as an infant in the Nunnery Hill ( Fin ...

's Vanities'' of 1927 and on Broadway in ''Here's Howe'' and ''Ned Wayburn's Gambols''. He was billed under his nickname Fuzzy (given him because of his peculiarly soft voice). While touring with bands, Knight came to

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

and appeared in several musical short films for

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

and

Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. **Paramount Picture ...

between 1928 and 1932.

Mae West Mary Jane "Mae" West (August 17, 1893 – November 22, 1980) was an American actress, singer, comedian, screenwriter, and playwright whose career spanned more than seven decades. Recognized as a prominent sex symbol of her time, she was known ...

gave him his first notable film role in '' She Done Him Wrong'', and he went on to play in many dozens of films over the next 30 years. By the 1940s, he was primarily playing in

Western movies The Western is a film genre defined by the American Film Institute as films which are "set in the American West that mbodythe spirit, the struggle, and the demise of the new frontier." Generally set in the American frontier between the Californi ...

and was voted one of the Top Ten Money-Making Stars in Westerns in 1940. Knight became famous to a new generation when he co-starred as Buster Crabbe's sidekick (using his own name as Private Fuzzy Knight) on the 1955 television series '' Captain Gallant of the Foreign Legion''. In semi-retirement thereafter, Knight continued to make occasional appearances in films and TV shows through 1967. He died in his sleep at the Motion Picture Country House and Hospital in

Woodland Hills, California Woodland Hills is a neighborhood bordering the Santa Monica Mountains in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California, United States. History The area was inhabited for around 8,000 years by Native Americans in the United States, ...

, and was survived by his wife, actress Patricia Ryan (née Thelma de Long). He was buried in Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery in

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank had a Census-estimated population of 102,755 as of 2023. The city was ...

Filmography

References

External links

* *
''Fuzzy Knight and His Little Piano'' film short from YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, Fuzzy 1901 births 1976 deaths 20th-century American male actors Male actors from West Virginia American male film actors Songwriters from West Virginia American male television actors Burials at Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery West Virginia University alumni Male Western (genre) film actors People from Fairmont, West Virginia 20th-century American songwriters Vaudeville performers from West Virginia