Remembering Hal Smith - Otis Campbell on The Andy Griffith Show

Very good Cartier thanks

Dave Sundstrom, another fact you may not know about Hal Smith, he was the voice for John Avery Whitaker in a children's Christian Series, called "Adventures In Odyssey. He did a great job in all his endeavors and is greatly missed. I enjoy your videos, very much. Thanks for the hard work, I know go into these posts.

the best of the best!

I thought the interactions between Otis and Barney were the funniest bits on that show. I didn't know that was Hal Smith on the Brady Bunch.

Otis was so funny I laugh myself sick!😆😆

Smith appeared on an episode of Adam 12 as a drunk driver.

I thought that Otis was great. I heard that in real life, Hal Smith that played Otis, never drank a day in his life. Hal did a great job 👍 playing the town drunk. Once again, Otis was great. Thanks.

Otis was one of the best characters always good for a laugh

A wasted Otis riding a cow down the street like Rooster Cogburn.....The Good Stuff!

Otis fit perfectly!

As a recovered person it didn't as well as doesn't bother me one bit. He was GRRRRRREAT!!! The show would have been far less without him.

I always loved it when Otis showed up! You knew it was going to be a laugh out loud scene... And when he'd grab the keys from his cell, unlock it and then answer the phone for Andy. Or when Barney and Andy had to wake him up so he could go home...LOL!
Never looked at him as a "role model", but I was ALWAYS entertained by his performance. Good for him to want to sober up the character. I need to watch "Return to Mayberry" again....
Thanks, Dave....

He was a fact of life... it is sad that we have people that can destroy themselves with addictions... Otis was funny and lovable comedy, as we know, we must have a touch of reality to make it real... YOU CAN'T SHELTER CHILDREN... and parents should watch their child's behavior and talk about such things and then explain why it was funny... the adults should not have a television at all if they plan on sheltering, get rid of television... we did not use seatbelts then... yet we knew we could get hurt... the problems children are having these days could be traced right to this overprotective society... they will learn from what mom and dad laugh at in these situations... Otis was funny because the show was fantasy on an adult level... dealing with life is tough and this comedy taught us to make light of such a cruel world... when we laugh who are we laughing at? The characters on the screen or ourselves... it did give us an opportunity to look at things from a different perspective.

After Otis, my favorite character was actually a voice over character........Whit of Adventures In Odyssey.

What's not to like about a guy who plays football with his wife. They honored Ottis as a descendant of Nathan Tibbs, and they all drank a toast, including Ottis. The mayor did not want Ottis there to accept the award, but Andy stood his ground. Kind of sad the way they were trying to railroad Ottis. One more lesson from Mayberry.

I thought it was funny when Otis would lock himself in jail when he was drunk, being a kid I no had idea what that meant, safe off the streets now a days

As always, different time different values of what is funny. Those who can't put ointment on their butt-hurt can't/won't understand that. Otis was a great character who got a chance to redeem himself. Good for him.

It was so funny when Otis would come to the jail and lock himself up after getting drunk.

How did I miss this another trip down memory lane your videos all ways bring back memories of better days thanks so much

...and Taurus from Space angel And Clutch Cargo...

Before I mention my favorite episode with Hal Smith (Otis Campbell), drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes on TV shows whether it be drama or comedy, it was part of the social life of America in the 50's and 60's. Acceptable. Remember Bewitched? The 5 o'clock cocktail hour with Darin Stevens and his boss Larry Tate, and heavy smoking at that time? Many of us kids used to watch that show and never gave it any thought about some of the heavy drinking of cocktails (which now at 64 I still enjoy on some occasions, but no heavy drinking. Just a nice good comfortable buzz.) And the heavy smoking at times on Bewitched and on many other TV shows in that time period. (Even one time Andy Taylor in one episode was smoking a cigarette.) Now my favorite episode with Hal Smith as Otis Campbell; it was the one when Barney locked himself in jail as a prisoner because Gomer (Jim Nabors) did a citizen's arrest on Barney for the illegal u turn that Barney did and gave Gomer a ticket for doing the same thing before Gomer did the citizen's arrest on Barney. So as usual Otis comes to the jail to lock himself in for being drunk. He sees Barney locked up and Otis gets so confused about it he freaks out and says, "I'm in The Twilight Zone!" which was still on prime time on CBS at that time. Once Otis settled down and was in his jail cell he was razzing Barney because he was locked up in the jail cell next to him. That is my favorite, Hal Smith as Otis Campbell. Of course there were many other funny episodes with Hal Smith as Otis Campbell on The Andy Griffith Show. Especially when it involved Barney.

OPIE: HI PA, OTIS HAD A SNOOTFULL? AUNT BEA ADAMANT THAT OPIE STAY AWAY FROM THE JAIL! TOO MANY APPLES & OPIE SNOOZED IN THE BACK OF THE PICKUP TRUCK & HE WAS ALLOWED BACK IN W/PA & BARNEY @ THE JAIL!!

OTIS TAUGHT EVERYONE ONE THING THE JAILS IN MAYBERRY DON'T EXIST & MY OPINION IS TO EVERYONE, " HELP THE HOMELESS MEN AND WOMEN"' & ALL THE HUNGRY PEOPLE. THE GOVERNMENT DOES NOT CARE AND EVERY ONE PLEASE HELP IMPROVE THIS HORRENDOUS SITUATION. THANK GOODNESS FOR PEOPLE LIKE US WHO DO CARE.

Otis Campbell: the true hero of Mayberry. He drank all the liquor so that Mayberry would stay dry. Can’t drink the hooch if it isn’t there

again thank you MR.Dave

The Andy Griffith show was awesome. People miss the more simple times. Otis was hilarious. He could really play the part. The show and the movie were different times. I wish they would of let Otis keep his bottle of moonshine in the movie.

dave, i'm the author of hal smith's biography.....i knew hal personally and he came from my hometown of massena new york. tv writer and producer aaron ruben and andy griffith were the ones who decided to make hal sober as otis the ice cream man in the return to mayberry movie. here's a direct quote to me from andy griffith --- when i personally interviewed him: when we did the reunion show, there was much talk about drinking. we decided to make hal sober as an ice cream salesman. he was a little disappointed that he couldn't play drunk in that show. but it worked out fine........

He is to cute how he acted. I think that’s how our Actors live on by young people watching and remember how it touched their lives. Thanks Dave Please Stay Safe❣️‼️

I'm glad Otis was on the show even though he was the town's drunk. It was all done in good fun. Mayberry wouldn't have been complete without Otis. What a contrast he went from Otis the Drunk to Otis the Ice Cream Man. But at least he was part of the Reunion Show. Yeah, even that show wouldn't be completely without Otis. This was now the 80's and times were changing.

I think him playing the town drunk helped kids not want to be that.

I liked Otis, l just found out that he was the voice of Whit on oldesy. My kids loved that show

I thought he did the character Goofy at some time for Disney. Wait, I know he did on Mickey's Christmas Carol

There was an episode of Happy Days when they were in jail and I think he did a cameo of a drunk guy in the cell.

He was awesome

Otis the town drunk was a lovable caricature, and Hal Smith did it well.

Recently I've seen him in a few shows.....actually played a drunk in a skit other than Otis but I can't remember to save my life what movie it was.....I'm slippin'....lol

I loved this character. Even though we may have flaws in life it doesn’t mean we can have great qualities as well. Otis has an amazing heart/sense of humor. Even though he may of had a drinking problem I was honored to get to know him on the AGS. God Bless Dave.

Otis and Floyd were indispensable characters on the show.

Liked him too. ⭐❤🌈

I have heard that he was not a drunk in real life but boy did he ever play the perfect in this TV show.

Hi Dave, where can I view the show, The Return To Mayberry?

I was watching an old cartoon from the 80s called Thundarr the Barbarian and I recognized his voice in an episode. It sounded very much like a character from a cartoon video game, Dragons Lair 2. Sure enough I found out the drunk from the Andy Griffin show was the voice of Mordroc.

He was grand in Davey & Goliath as Mr. Hansen, most of Davey's friends and of course Goliath.

I love the episode, where aunt bee is in charge of Otis as a warden, and makes him do all the house work, poor Otis, trying to escape in a laundry truck 😂

My favorite Otis episode is one of the two episodes where he sobered up. It's the one where he's the descendent of a revolutionary war hero and he gives a classy acceptance speech.

In the other episode where Otis sobers up, his older brother also turns out to have a weakness for hooch.

He was a voice actor in a Christian program called The Advertures in Odyssey from 1987 to 1994 playing John Avery Whittaker

Otis was only in two color episodes.

I think about My on sobriety. Which was not funny...it my being clean full of joy..PS my two favorite was funeral and the second one Otis' brother comes to town he was trying to impress his brother come to find out brother was the town drunk as well .my brother and I now have 60 years of clean and sober🎉 ....

All fun

Part of the charm of The Andy Griffith Show was that it taught us to see the good side of all types of people. Otis was a perfect example; he was not a role model, but was very likeable. I never wanted to be Otis, but I would have loved to have known him!