Don Knotts has died in Los Angeles at 81, according to BBC News Online.

The Three's Company star died of pulmonary and respiratory complications in hospital. During his career, he starred in more than 25 films and seven TV series, including Pleasantville, as a television repairman who sends two teenagers into a black-and-white sitcom.

Former co-star Andy Griffiths paid tribute to Knotts, saying: "Don was a small man, but everything else about him was large. Don was special. There's nobody like him. I loved him very much. We had a long and wonderful life together."