He was caught off guard when Griffith announced he would be continuing with the show after all, but Knotts' hands were tied (in his autobiography, Knotts admitted that he had not yet signed a contract when Griffith made his decision, but had made up his mind believing that he would not get this chance again). As Griffith maintained in several interviews, "By the second episode, I knew that Don should be funny, and I should play straight." īelieving earlier remarks made by Griffith, that The Andy Griffith Show would soon be ending after five seasons, Knotts began to look for other work, and signed a five-film contract with Universal Studios. However, it was quickly found that the show was funnier the other way around. When the show first aired, Griffith was intended to be the comedic lead with Knotts as his "foil" or straight man, similar to their roles in No Time for Sergeants. Knotts' portrayal of the deputy on the popular show would earn him five Emmy Awards for Best Supporting Actor in a Television Comedy, winning each of the five seasons he played the character. In 1960 when Griffith was offered the opportunity to headline in his own sitcom The Andy Griffith Show (1960–1968), Knotts took the role of Barney Fife, the deputy-and originally cousin-of Sheriff Andy Taylor (portrayed by Griffith). In reality, Knotts enlisted in the United States Army after graduating from Morgantown High School and spent most of his service entertaining troops. Knotts is a sixth cousin of Ron Howard, a co-star on The Andy Griffith Show.Īn urban legend claims that Knotts had served in the United States Marine Corps during World War II, serving as a drill instructor at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina. They are buried in the family plot at Beverly Hills Memorial Park, in Morgantown, West Virginia. Son William Earl Knotts (1910–1941) preceded her in death in 1941, at age 31. When his father died of pneumonia when Knotts was thirteen years old, he and his three brothers were then raised by their mother, who ran a boarding house in Morgantown. Knotts' family life in his early years brought his own to a traumatic start: His father was a farmer, who, due to the burden of a fourth child (Don) being born so late (his mother was 40), had a nervous breakdown, becoming a shell of his former self.Īfflicted with both schizophrenia and alcoholism, he sometimes terrorized his young son with a knife, causing him to draw inwards at an early age. Knotts' paternal ancestors had emigrated from England to America in the 17th century, originally settling in Queen Anne's County, Maryland. Do not miss it if broadcast.Knotts was born in Morgantown, West Virginia, a son of William Jesse Knotts and his wife, the former Elsie L. No Time For Sergeants is one of the best military comedies ever done on stage and screen. But his session with psychiatrist James Millhollin is the funniest thing in the film. Knotts plays a corporal at the classification center administering the manual dexterity test and how Griffith solves it is Gordian Knot like. This not the Andy Griffith Show is the first time Knotts and Griffith work together. No Time For Sergeants ran for 796 performances on Broadway during the 1955-57 season and Griffith, McCormick, Don Knotts, and James Milhollin all repeat their roles from Broadway. It's the heart of the humor in No Time For Sergeants. Like many other things Griffith takes them to heart and repeats them verbatim always at the wrong time. He convinces Griffith of the fact that the infantry does the real fighting and everyone else just helps out occasionally. Stockdale's best friend is Nick Adams, a kid from a military tradition family who wants the Army Infantry and not the Air Force and bemoans his fate through most of the film. The man whom the chaos effects the most is his sergeant at the classification center played by Myron McCormick in the best world weary tradition he can muster. Because his father William Fawcett had kept his draft letters from him, when the Air Force finally does come to get him. Stockdale is one of those people who glides through life while chaos erupts all around him. Griffith is such a hick he makes Gomer Pyle look as sophisticated as Noel Coward. For those of you who know Andy Griffith best as the country wise sheriff of Mayberry or as the slick country lawyer Ben Matlock it might come as a surprise that Griffith got his first big career break playing that most ingenuous of military draftees Will Stockdale in No Time For Sergeants first on Broadway and then in this film version.
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