Don Knotts said that Ron Howard was ''the best-behaved child actor I ever worked with''

He also praised Rance Howard!

November 14, 2024, 11:13AM By MeTV Staff

CBS Television Distribution

"Never work with children or animals," is an oft-quoted and frequently misunderstood line attributed to W.C. Fields. Many assume the line is about the perils of these tinier co-stars and their on set antics. Children sometimes behave poorly, that's just the nature of being a kid. And animals? Well, there's no way of predicting their actions. Even the most trained animals might act out unexpectedly.

But many people don't understand that Fields wasn't talking about issues of conduct. He was trying to make the point that a performer opens up to being upstaged if a child or animal is part of the production. Despite being one of history's funniest comedians, Fields knew that the moment a child or an animal entered the scene, he was relegated to supporting player.

Opie Taylor is undoubtedly one of the greatest kid characters in all of TV. He wasn't too precocious, nor was he written like some dumb child. Opie was the heart of The Andy Griffith Show, and Ron Howard's performance gave the show so many precious moments.

Despite the chance of being upstaged by his younger co-star, Don Knotts only had glowing things to say about Howard. In his memoir, Barney Fife, and Other Characters I Have Played, Knotts discussed what made Howard different from other child stars.

"The first year Ron Howard did Opie, he was a preschooler and couldn't even read. Ron's father Rance, also an actor, helped Ron memorize his lines. Ron's folks were wonderful parents. They, of course, brought Ron to the set and their handling of Ron could not have been better."

Knotts recognized that it was the family unit that separated Howard from his child actor peers. A kid with all the talent in the world wouldn't have had the same success without the support of two outstanding parents like Ron Howard's.

"Rance and Ron obviously had a wonderful father-son relationship, and Ron was the best-behaved child actor I ever worked with. Most kid actors, quite frankly, are a pain in the neck. Not Ron. I can't remember ever seeing him get out of line. When he was working, he was right there, diligent and concentrated. When he wasn't on-camera, you didn't even know he was around. "

While hindsight allows us to see the wheels turning for Howard's eventual move behind the camera, according to Knotts, it may not have been so immediately obvious on the set of The Andy Griffith Show.

"I think Ron's becoming a director took most of us by surprise. It certainly did me, anyway. Ron was such a natural actor, I guess I assumed he would continue acting when he grew up."