What was he really like? This year, 2022, the tenth anniversary of his death, that’s the question his fans nationwide continue to ask. ![]() He’d sip drinks at night high above the lights twinkling on in thousands of heartland homes across the nation where lived his fan legion, first watching his namesake show on prime time on TV sets with rabbit-ear antennas, then in daily reruns on flat screens.įor the last leg of the trip, once he made it big, he’d catch a puddle-jumping small plane to his island, the sight of shimmering water and sand beaches fringed by pines always making his heart sing, the place that eventually became his full-time home.Īs my friends told their stories and we rolled across the dream-drifting sound where Andy spent many of his happiest hours, the island’s barefoot legend was coming alive. ![]() During his six-decade career, he caught countless red-eye flights east from Los Angeles, headed home from the city where he made his living to the island that gave him that living. His memories of working in that play were the anchor to which he kept returning. Andy, “Doc” Harvey, and their sons at the Oregon Inlet Coast Guard Station in October 1968. It’s just south of the Waterside Theatre, the home of The Lost Colony outdoor drama, where it all began for Andy in the summer of 1947. We cruised by Andy’s last big house peeking through the pines. My friend at the wheel pulled out from his downtown Manteo dock and piloted the boat out of Shallowbag Bay, then cruised slowly north on the sound, rocking gently by a sandspit where Andy sometimes parked his buddy-laden pontoon boat (he hated to be alone, my friends told me) and fiercely competed in volleyball. They told me about enjoying drinks with him on Roanoke Sound, and we shared drinks as they wove stories about Andy. Island friends were taking me out on their wooden sportfishing boat, a 30-footer with clean lines, a vessel they took Andy Griffith out on when he grew too frosty-haired frail to take out his own boat. ![]() It was dusk, a gray-dog day surrendering to a cool sunset in August 2020. "They were two Southern guys with similar backgrounds, stories, and childhoods, so they were drawn to each other instantly," the author said in that same interview.Excerpted from the book Andy Griffith’s Manteo: His Real Mayberry, which was published in May. "Don had Andy literally in tears once a week." Having come from similar backgrounds, the two hit it off right from the jump. "Andy was the world's greatest audience for Don," Ron shared. He recalled how Griffith was so receptive of Knotts' comedy, even to a point where he couldn't even contain himself. In a separate interview with Closer, Ron Howard told the outlet that the two were a perfect match for each other. "Andy was with Don in 2006 at his deathbed." (Photo: Photo by CBS Photo Archive/Archive Photos/Getty Images, Getty) "Though their Mayberry partnership lasted only until 1965, the two remained best friends for life," de Visé said in an interview. To sum up, how strong their bond was, Griffith was by Knotts' side in his final days. ![]() Andy and Don, The Making of a Friendship and a Classic American TV Show, a 2016 book by Daniel de Visé, covers how the two met in the 1950s, a decade before the iconic show made its debut.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |