More than five decades after The Andy Griffith Show ended, the cast still has fond memories of behind-the-scenes moments from the set.
In a Woman’s World interview published on Thursday, November 20, Margaret Kerry recalled meeting Andy Griffith for the first time when her agent took her to the soundstage where the show filmed.
“He walked over,” she said of Griffith, “tugs up the waist of his trousers, becomes very businesslike.”
Kerry, 96, remembered Griffith looking her in the eye when he greeted her.
“He said, ‘Welcome aboard,’” she noted. “Just like that. No fuss. Just warmth.”
While Kerry was a guest star and accustomed to being overlooked by main cast members, she emphasized the inviting atmosphere of The Andy Griffith Show.
“You could go to different kinds of shows where the key players don’t mix,” she explained. “Perfectly fine but separate. But not with The Andy Griffith Show. You were part of it.”
As for Don Knotts, he infused the set with his lighthearted nature. Kerry recalled the actor reading in his chair between takes and hiding in the shadows, checking his script when stand-ins stepped on the soundstage for lighting adjustments.
According to Kerry, when the cameras were ready to roll, Knotts would “say something just as he walked into the light and everyone would laugh. Andy laughed out loud. And Don would look around like, ‘What?’ And then he’d say, ‘Are we going to get to work here?’ The fun was allowed.”
Kerry appeared in two episodes of The Andy Griffith Show, portraying Bess Muggins — a wife and mother incarcerated with her family on Christmas Eve — in season 1’s “Christmas Story” in 1960 and Helen Scobey — a young woman facing eviction alongside her husband and daughter — in season 1’s “Andy Forecloses” in 1961.
Griffith and Knotts, meanwhile, starred as Sheriff Andy Taylor and Deputy Barney Fife on the CBS sitcom, which aired for eight seasons from October 1960 to April 1968. (Knotts exited his main role in 1965 after season 5 but returned as a guest star in the remaining seasons.) Ron Howard and Frances Bavier rounded out the cast as Andy’s son, Opie, and his aunt, Bee, respectively.
Howard, 71, is the only main cast member still alive today. Bavier died in November 1989 at age 86, followed by Knotts in February 2006 at age 81 and Griffith in July 2012 at age 86.
Although it’s been 57 years since The Andy Griffith Show ended, Kerry shared why she thinks the show still resonates with fans.
“How does it still connect?” she pondered. “I think once they glom onto it … they see something different. Something nice. They recognize someone they knew. Or they say, ‘Oh, look how that turned.’ It touches their hearts. And their minds. And they think, ‘I want to watch this again.’”
For Kerry herself, it just feels “right” to be “celebrating the show after all these years.”
This story was originally reported by Parade on Nov 22, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com ’
