Ron Howard RevealsAndy Griffith ShowCostar Don Knotts Was Actually His Cousin as He Shares Throwback Photo

Mar. 15, 2025

Mayberry is forever.

Howard, 70, wrote in the caption, “A fun photo of the day in ‘97 when #AndyGriffith and #DonKnotts surprised me with a visit to the set of #Ransom in #Queens. It was recently confirmed that Don and I were actually distant cousins!” (Howard perhaps misremembered the date, sinceRansom, which starred Mel Gibson and Rene Russo, was released in 1996.)

Howard played Opie onThe Andy Griffith Showfrom 1960 to 1968. He was just 5 years old when he was cast as the son of Griffith’s Andy Taylor, the beloved sheriff of Mayberry. Knotts played Deputy Sheriff Barney Fife, a role that garnered him five Emmy Awards.

Andy Griffith, Don Knotts and Ron Howard on the set of ‘Ransom’ in the 1990s (left); Andy Griffith, Don Knotts and Ron Howard in ‘The Andy Griffith Show’ (right) in 1965.realronhoward/Instagram;Hulton Archive/Getty

realronhoward/Instagram;Hulton Archive/Getty

“Andy was like a wonderful uncle to me,” Howard explained. “He created an atmosphere of hard work and fun that I try to bring to my movies.”

Knotts died in 2006. He was 81 years old.Griffith died in 2012at age 86.

The cast of ‘The Andy Griffith Show’ in ‘Return to Mayberry’ in 1986. Clockwise from top left: Jim Nabors, George Lindsey, Ron Howard, Andy Griffith and Don Knotts.Gary Null/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal/Getty

Gary Null/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal/Getty

But Howard’s first show, and his costars, have maintained a special place in his heart.Speaking to Conan O’Brien in June 2024about why the show was so good, he attributed it to Griffith. “It was so much a function of kind of a singular creative voice,” he said. Though Griffith wasn’t a producer, “It was his show, it was tailored to his sensibility.”

He explained, “Andy used to kill jokes if they were too broad. He just kept saying, ‘The South is plenty funny on its own.’ ” Other shows about the South were too slapstick and silly for Griffith, Howard explained.

Howard said that some of the show’s most famous scenes — which featured Knotts and Griffith having meandering conversations — happened when an episode came up short. Knotts and Griffith would decide what the scene would be about and then would just film it.

From left: Andy Griffith, Ron Howard, Don Knotts and Jim Nabors in ‘The Andy Griffith Show.'.Silver Screen Collection/Getty

Silver Screen Collection/Getty

Howard added, “How lucky was I to grow up in that situation where the actors were set up … to participate, make suggestions?” He said that even as a kid, he felt comfortable making suggestions, though at first they “never went anywhere.”

But, Howard said, he’ll “never forget” that when filming the second episode of season 2, when he was 7, he pitched a different line that he thought sounded more like a real kid. The director let him change it. “I just felt this surge of being involved in something,” Howard remembered, though he also remembered Griffith teasing him about the moment, too.

source: people.com