Hollywood’s Original Funnyman
Don Knotts spent his life as an actor on screen bringing joy and making people laugh, often as an endearingly silly and incapable character, and most famously as Sargeant Barney on The Andy Griffith Show. While he made a career out of other people’s happiness, his own personal life was a series of heartbreaking events.
1. He Was A Mistake
Don Knotts’s parents, William and Elsie, likely didn’t expect to have him, considering his mother had him 14 years after his next oldest sibling. They struggled to make ends meet and gave up their farm just one month before he came into the picture. Unfortunately, growing up poor in Morgantown, West Virginia, wasn’t the worst of their troubles.
2. His Home Felt Hostile
Knotts’s father was a very messed up man. Sources claim he suffered from several illnesses, including schizophrenia, addiction, and conversion disorder. Reportedly, he once threatened his young son with a knife. All this made for a scary childhood for Knotts, but his father wasn’t the only person in the family who didn’t treat him right.
3. His Brothers Harassed Him
Knotts probably didn’t connect easily with his much older brothers—and this set their sibling relationship up for trouble. Both his brothers drank too much like his father, and they took out their issues on their little brother. Still, he thought his brothers were funny, and he especially looked up to his brother, Sid, who’d make the family laugh in the toughest situations. Sadly, Sid’s run as the family comedian ended in tragedy.
4. He Lost His Idol
In his young teenage years, Knotts’s brother passed unexpectedly from a terrible asthma attack. He often found solace in the comic antics of his brother and felt devastated with his first comic idol out of the picture. The young boy must have needed a friend to turn to. Knotts’s choice for a “friend in time of need” was, however, a bit unusual.
5. He Made Friends Up
During his earlier childhood, Knotts spent much of his time with imaginary friends to escape his real-life horrors. After his brother was gone, he widened his imaginary friend group by inventing a friend named “Danny”—a ventriloquist dummy. He started performing with his new friend and seemed to hit his stride, but even his new hobby couldn’t keep him happy.
6. He Didn’t Like Himself
High School is tough for most teenagers, but Knotts hit the ground running. His peers liked him and even voted him class president. But even with all this positive attention, Knotts himself said he “felt like a loser.” Being poor and physically smaller than his friends, he probably felt insecure. His next steps only built on these feelings of inadequacy.
7. He Took a Risk
Knotts became well known for his comedy throughout high school, so much so that he felt he might have a chance of hitting it big as an entertainer in New York City. Right after graduating high school, he headed for Manhattan and his first real audition at the very tender age of eighteen. He took his first steps confidently towards stardom—but he was in for a shocking blow.
8. They Shut Him Down
His first audition was a complete disaster. He did so badly—the casting director advised him to give up on his dream completely, predicting he’d never have a place anywhere in entertainment. Knotts had no choice but to head back to his small town. No doubt discouraged, he forced himself down a much less desirable path.
9. He Tried To Be Normal
Back at home, Knotts picked up a job as opposite from the life of glam he wanted as you could imagine—plucking chickens for a local grocery store. Life looked nothing like he hoped, and he surely questioned if the future he wanted was possible. Interestingly enough, worldwide tragedy would soon become his chance to make his dreams come true.
10. He Found A Way
Shorter and thinner than the average man, Knotts probably looked like the least likely candidate to fight for his country when WWII rolled around in 1943. But, surprisingly, he found a spot as a member of “Stars and Gripes,” a comedy group commissioned to entertain those in the field. He blossomed as a performer, but not without learning to hate a part of himself.
