Hal Smith dies at 77

Hal Smith, who played Mayberry's lovable town drunk on The Andy Griffith Show, has died. He was 77.

Smith died Jan. 28 at his Santa Monica home, said Don Pitts, the veteran performer's longtime agent.

Smith played the affable inebriate Otis Campbell on The Andy Griffith Show, which ran from 1960 to 1968 on CBS. The show is seen around the world in syndication.

He also was a featured guest on ABC's Pat Paulsen's Half a Comedy Hour in 1970.

Smith supplied the voice of cartoon characters and hawked products in hundreds of commercials, Pitts said. He took over as the voice of Winnie the Pooh after Sterling Holloway, Winnie's original voice, died in 1992.

Smith came to films and television after singing with big bands in the 1930s. He worked as a staff announcer on Los Angeles radio station KFI in the 1940s, then launched an acting career.

Survivors include his son, Terry, and a brother.