Why the triumph had Knotts and the cast shaking in their boots.
Success can be a funny and fickle thing. You spend your whole life chasing what you believe is the peak of your career, terrified that you might never get to where you’ve dreamed of reaching. Then, when you finally achieve those goals, you become scared all over again that you might lose the victory to someone else.
Even a series like The Andy Griffith Show with all of its good fortune, couldn’t get away from the fear of success, The series spent most of its duration living the high life in the minds of viewers and critics. It seemed that nobody had a bad word to say about the series, and it’s a fondness that has lingered as the show continues in reruns.
But when Don Knotts spoke to the United Press International, he described a very different perspective of the fame and success that the cast of The Andy Griffith Show enjoyed. According to Knotts, when the series finally reached the top, it instilled terror in the cast and crew more than anything else.
He said, “Being part of a hit series isn’t new to me. That Allen show was really hot, and The Andy Griffith Show was always in the top 10. We were scared to death when it hit No. 1. The only way to go after that was down.”
Knotts was always humble when accepting praise, even when it came from one of his best friends. In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, Andy Griffith interviewed Knotts, where he complimented his costar. Griffith said, “I’ll tell you about Don Knotts. He has a good role, know it? But what he does with it makes it into a great characterization. I don’t mind telling you that I used to work as a single, but now I proudly consider myself part of a team.”
And to his modest pal, Griffith concluded, “You stop squirming there, Don Knotts, it’s the truth.”
