He was known to his family and friends as Jesse.
Jesse hated his job. And you would too, if you had his job because Jesse was a chicken plucker. That's right. He stood on a line in a chicken processing plant and spent hours and days pulling feathers off dead chickens. It wasn't much of a job. And at the time, Jesse didn't think he was much of a person.
His father was a brute of a man, who was actually plagued with mental illness, and who treated Jesse very roughly.
Jesse's older brother was not much better. He always picked on Jesse and beat him up. Yes, Jesse grew up in a very rough home in West Virginia. Life was anything but easy for Jesse, and he thought life didn't hold much hope for him. That's why he stood on the chicken line, doing a job that darn few people wanted.
In addition to all the rough treatment at home, Jesse was always sick. Sometimes it was real physical illness, but way too often it was just all in his head. As a child, he was small and skinny which didn't help his situation any because when he started school, he became a favorite prey of the school bullies.
For Jesse, tomorrow did not look promising and not something he looked forward to. To add insult to injury, he turned out to be a hypochondriac of the first degree.
Jesse hated his job. And you would too, if you had his job because Jesse was a chicken plucker. That's right. He stood on a line in a chicken processing plant and spent hours and days pulling feathers off dead chickens. It wasn't much of a job. And at the time, Jesse didn't think he was much of a person.
His father was a brute of a man, who was actually plagued with mental illness, and who treated Jesse very roughly.
Jesse's older brother was not much better. He always picked on Jesse and beat him up. Yes, Jesse grew up in a very rough home in West Virginia. Life was anything but easy for Jesse, and he thought life didn't hold much hope for him. That's why he stood on the chicken line, doing a job that darn few people wanted.
In addition to all the rough treatment at home, Jesse was always sick. Sometimes it was real physical illness, but way too often it was just all in his head. As a child, he was small and skinny which didn't help his situation any because when he started school, he became a favorite prey of the school bullies.
For Jesse, tomorrow did not look promising and not something he looked forward to. To add insult to injury, he turned out to be a hypochondriac of the first degree.
But be that as it may, believe it or not, he had dreams. He wanted to be a ventriloquist. He avidly digested books on ventriloquism, practiced with sock puppets, and saved his hard earned dollars until he was able finally to get himself a real ventriloquist's dummy.
When he was old enough, he joined the military. And even though many of his hypochondriac symptoms persisted, someone in the military recognized his "talent" and put him in the entertainment corps. That was when his world changed. He gained confidence. He found that he had a talent for making people laugh so hard that they often had tears in their eyes from all their laughing. Yes, the little, skinny, and wimpy-looking Jesse had finally found his niche.
As is common knowledge today, history books are full of people who overcame some handicap and went on to make a success of themselves. Jesse is one of the few who didn't overcome his handicap of hypochondria, but who used his paranoia to make money. He became one of the best-loved comedy characters of all time. Yes, the little paranoid hypochondriac used his nervousness as his key to launch his successful career in television and movies. He holds the record for having won the most number of Emmys awarded in a single category.
That nervous, talented comedian who appeared in several Hollywood movies and who portrayed Barney Fife, the bungling and klutzy sheriff's assistant in The Andy Griffith Show, was Jesse Don Knotts. –Author Unknown
This is a true and wonderful story.
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