Don Knotts of 'The Andy Griffith Show' Has a Daughter Who Is Following in His Footsteps
Karen Knotts is the daughter of legendary comedian and star of 'The Andy Griffith Show,' Don Knotts. Following in her father's footsteps she has also established a career as a comedian.
For the past 10 years, Karen has been touring around the United States with her one women comedy theatre show called "Tied Up in Knotts."
Karen's show features a variety of characters and hilarious stories about childhood and her father, Don Knotts’ journey to becoming a comedic legend.
Her show has received many highly exclaimed reviews and continues to be successful. In it she also talks about what it was like growing up with Don as her father.
Speaking to Closer Weekly about her childhood, Karen says her father worked 10 to 12 hours a day and spent most of his free time preparing for his next show and working on his lines.
She admits to knowing that she wanted to be an actress from a young age and got the acting bug by watching her father prepare for his acting role, she explains:
"I remember watching and listening to him rehearse. He asked me to run lines. At the time, I already knew I wanted to act, so I would try to act it out and he'd say, 'No, no, no."
"Just give me the lines straight, no inflection, nothing, otherwise you throw me off. I was just part of that process," she recalled about practising lines with Don.
At age 81 Don died in 2006 from pulmonary and respiratory complications. Karen remembers being with father by his deathbed and says he kept the people around him laughing until the very end of life.
Don Knotts speaking at HBO's Comic Relief '87 at Universal Ampitheater, on November 14, 1987, in Universal City, California | Source: Jim Smeal/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
It is reported, the show is in honor of her father and takes a comical look at Don's earlier years as a ventriloquist to his rise as an Emmy winning star with his role as Barney Fife on "The Andy Griffith Show."
Karen talks about his many movies, which include; "The Ghost," "The Incredible Mr. Limpet" and "Mr. Chicken."
Calling her show a "Docu-comedy," she also shares with her audience rare footage from Don's early days working as an actor in New York.