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Barney Fife impersonator leaves lasting legacy

By Mike Tony for The 4 min read
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It takes a likable man to play a lovable character.

That was Scott Epperson’s secret.

Epperson impersonated Barney Fife, the bumbling cop from the “Andy Griffith Show” for several years at the Fayette County Fair, giving his last performance as Fife there last year.

But since Epperson died on Nov. 23 at age 57, there’ll be no more “Barney of Mayberry” strolling around the fairgrounds this year, which fair board President Bill Jackson considers to be a great loss.

“He just had that Barney Fife character down pat, his mannerisms, just everything about him,” Jackson said. “He would just go up and down the midway, and, if the (Fabulous) Hubcaps were playing, he would kind of get up on stage with them a little bit, spend some time with our senior citizens on senior citizen day. Just a real crowd-pleaser.”

Jackson actually had Epperson booked to appear at the fair again this year before learning of his passing.

“There was really no other act that could replace what he did,” Jackson said.

What made Epperson’s act so irreplaceable was its authenticity. Epperson grew up in Andy Griffith’s hometown of Mount Airy, N.C., and spoke to Don Knotts, who originally played Barney Fife, on the phone. Epperson even enjoyed a real-life police career of his own, being involved in law enforcement for 33 years, including 12 as a crime scene detective with the Dunn Police Department in North Carolina.

“The story he always told me was that initially people noticed the resemblance when he was young between him and Barney Fife, and he did not really like that as a young policeman when people made that correlation,” said Roger Olson, director of Dean Short Talent Service, a talent agency based in Omaha, Ne. that booked Epperson throughout the Midwest. “But as time went on, he grew to embrace it and enjoy it.”

Later in life, Epperson displayed his talents beyond law enforcement both real and for show, earning accreditation as a hypnotist, acting in musicals in the Harnett Regional Theatre in Dunn, N.C. and working under the stage name Lee Michaels at a local radio station.

Epperson’s run as “Barney of Mayberry” started when he was asked to dress up as Barney for a group of children with Down syndrome. Soon, Epperson was playing Barney around 200 days per year at fairs, festivals and grand openings throughout the United States and Canada.

“Scott was universally liked,” Olson said. “His act was very good, one of a kind. But he personally was so easy to get along with, so easy to get to know. He obviously reveled in talking with people.”

“It all happened as a fluke,” Epperson told Carolina Reporter, a University of South Carolina publication, about his Barney impersonation in 2012. “It’s not something that I ever planned.”

At the time of his death, Epperson was retired and living in Benson, N.C. with his wife of 25 years, Melanie, and their dog, Painter.

Last December, the International Association of Fairs and Expositions honored Epperson just weeks after his death at its Annual Convention & Trade Show in Las Vegas with a banner signed by hundreds of acts, agents and friends, which Olson says was presented to Epperson’s family as a farewell tribute from those who knew him in the fair business.

“That was another testament to Scott,” Olson said.

The greatest testament of all, at least as far as his Barney of Mayberry act was concerned, is how many people enjoyed seeing Epperson wear the badge.

“You just know when you’ve found someone who looks at everyone as a friend-until-they-prove-themselves-otherwise kind of guy,” Olson said.

That was Scott Epperson, both as Barney Fife and as himself.

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