What Were Andy Griffith’s Last Words to Don Knotts?
What was the final thing that Andy Griffith said to Don Knotts? No matter what you’re guessing, it’s probably different from what you’d think — but they were last words totally befitting these two men, who were lifelong best friends as well as frequent collaborators.
But before we get into it, I’ve just got to say that these two were one of the best comedic duos ever, in my opinion. Of course, Andy was the straight man to Don’s silly but lovable Barney Fife. It really is a shame that Don left The Andy Griffith Show after the fifth season, but that, my friends, is a story for another day.
There were some pretty darn good things that came out of his exit from the show. I count on my list of favorite movies two films starring Don Knotts: The Incredible Mr. Limpet and The Ghost and Mr. Chicken. And of course, over the years, Andy and Don found ways to reunite multiple times, first in a television movie called Return to Mayberry, where they reprised their classic TV characters. Then, later on, during the final four seasons of Griffith’s successful courtroom drama Matlock, Don appeared as Ben’s pesky but lovable neighbor, Les Calhoun.
Viacom/Courtesy: Everett Collection
However, a few days after Don’s passing on February 24, 2006, Andy Griffith appeared on NBC’s weekly morning news program, Today, to share with the world his thoughts about his best friend. On that day, he told show anchor Matt Lauer that he wanted to honor one of the kindest, brightest, and funniest men that he’d ever known.
It was clearly a difficult moment for Andy who, truth be told, didn’t always have the kind and gentle demeanor he modeled as the sheriff of Mayberry. He had lost one of his dearest friends, and I suspect appearing on a network morning show really wasn’t what he wanted to be doing. That said, he soldiered on, and in between the routine questions that I’m sure he knew he was going to be asked, he shared some additional information about his beloved co-star and friend.
Andy started the interview by sharing his final words with Don, who he called “Jess” even in those last moments because he always enjoyed teasing him about his first name. For those who don’t know, Don’s full name is Jesse Donald Knotts. Andy encouraged Don to fight, to not give up, and to breathe. And even though Don wasn’t fully conscious, Andy believed that Don could hear him by the way that he seemed to fight harder to breathe while Andy was talking to him.
Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images
However, as much as Andy wanted to see Don pull through, he knew that aside from the encouragement, there was something even more important that he had to tell him. He leaned in even closer to his dear friend and whispered “I love you.”
Let’s be clear. I’m quite sure that Don already knew how much his friend loved him, and I’m certain that Andy knew that Don knew it. But in their last moment together, it was important that Andy said it. If you think about it, I truly believe that there are no more powerful words than those three when you string them together. They have the power to do so much good in this world, and quite frankly, I feel like we don’t say them enough.
Here are the EXACT words that Andy Griffith shared with Today way back in 2006:
“I lost my best friend. I was with him just before he died. He was kind of unconscious. I don’t know that he could hear me, but we all believe he heard my voice. I told him I loved him. His first name was Jess. Uh, he hated that name, but he told me it once, and so I couldn’t help but call him Jesse. I said, ‘Jess, breathe.’ And you know, I saw his chest heave. And I said, ‘That’s a boy. Just keep breathing. Keep breathing.’ And his shoulder moved. So, I believe he heard my voice.”
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Classic Comedy Duos
March 2021
Chuckle at television & films funniest comic duos.
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