cover image Andy and Don: The Making of a Friendship and a Classic American TV Show

Andy and Don: The Making of a Friendship and a Classic American TV Show

Daniel de Visé. Simon & Schuster, $26 (256p) ISBN 978-1-4767-4773-6

Andy Griffith and Don Knotts are one of the most famous comedy duos in America, and in this tender tribute, de Visé, Knotts’s brother-in-law, chronicles their relationship. De Visé digs deeply into Griffith and Knotts’s childhoods, growing up poor in the South, and looks at how that experience affected them. The professional relationship between Griffith and Knotts began on Broadway, and continued into Mayberry on the Andy Griffith Show. When Knotts finally left the show, the two men both lamented that they would never find anything that fulfilling in their careers again, and spent a great deal of time trying to find new ways to collaborate. De Visé offers an intimate look at the lives of these two stars, and his access is invaluable to understanding their lifelong friendship. He captures the complexity of both men and the intimacy of their friendship with extreme detail and sensitivity. (Nov.)