Smith and Emma Smith nee Ploof. His own performing skills were utilized as well in a show titled Strictly from Hunger. After the war, he traveled to Hollywood in to pursue a career as an actor, he made his acting debut in the feature film, Stars Over Texas as Peddler Tucker. Smith's best-remembered on-screen character was Otis Campbell , the town drunk on The Andy Griffith Show , during most of the series' run from to When intoxicated, he would often comically let himself into his regular jail cellβusing the key which was stored within reach of the two comfortable jail roomsβ and "sleep off" the effects of alcohol.
Deputy Barney Fife would often become irritated with Otis and would attempt to either sober him up or rehabilitate him in several episodes. Hal Smith was the opposite of his character. According to longtime friends Andy Griffith and Don Knotts , he did not drink in real life.
Chicken , playing essentially the same town drunk character. Smith would play Otis one more time in the television movie Return to Mayberry In the television movie, Otis is the town's ice cream truck driver and is reported to have been "sober for years.
Weber in The Lucy Show. He played Jug Gunderson, a moonshiner that helped the Cannonball train win the aforementioned race. Though his character was never seen drinking or drunk, by the end of the episode, he makes an oath to himself to stop drinking and reform. Smith also worked extensively as a voice actor in animated films and television series.
Beginning in the late s with such shows as The Huckleberry Hound Show and Quick Draw McGraw , Smith became one of the most prolific voice actors in Hollywood, eventually working with most of the major studios and production companies, such as Hanna-Barbera , Walt Disney , Warner Bros.
