Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, November 8, 1993 TAG: 9312300033
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LYNN ELBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
``You can only eat peanuts for so long and then you're sick and tired of peanuts,'' says the actor, squeezing in an interview between work on ``The Second Half'' and ``Seinfeld.'' He's also appearing in ``Against the Grain.''
Knight offers evidence: an irate viewer he met during another run of professional luck, when he appeared in TV projects and the film ``JFK'' in rapid succession.
``This woman saw me in the grocery store and said, `I saw you last night on this thing and I saw you in the other thing - and now you're in my store!' '' Knight recounts in falsetto.
Sheesh, some people. But don't let one sourpuss ruin it for the rest of us who know a fine character actor when they see him, and who can never see him too much.
On Tuesdays, Knight plays a gruff newspaper editor on ``Second Half.'' Thursdays, you might catch him as the annoying Newman on ``Seinfeld,'' the kind of man who believes Kramer (Michael Richards) to be one sharp guy.
Look for him Fridays on the critically acclaimed drama ``Against the Grain'' as friendly, football-obsessed Froggie Wilson. All three series are on NBC.
Knight's TV success follows his role as the greedy, junk food-gobbling computer nerd who allows dinosaurs to run amok in ``Jurassic Park.''
Compare him to the memorable character actors who graced films in the 1930s and '40s and Knight is pleased.
``That's what I want to be,'' he says, sounding excited as he invokes names including Edward Arnold, the baritone-voiced figure of authority - or villainy - in such classics as ``Meet John Doe.''
A self-described pessimist who says he believes the glass is half-empty, but it is a very nice glass, Knight is taking a philosophic view of his popularity.
``I'm in season for the moment, and I'll ride the wave and enjoy it - and hopefully I won't wind up on the beach.''
by CNB