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Don Knotts Was a Devoted Father and a “Ladies’ Man” in His Private Life
Don Knotts was known for playing somewhat neurotic, funny characters like Barney Fife, but at home, he was a very loving and caring father of two children, Karen and Thomas.
The Andy Griffith Show star and his first wife, Kathryn Metz, whom he married in 1947 and divorced in 1964, were parents to their son and daughter. After separating, Knotts essentially took care of Karen and Thomas on his own until he got married two more times.
His daughter Karen talked a bit about his personal life with PEOPLE in 2006 and described his winning charm. “Dad was kinda crazy,” she recalled. “He was really quite the ladies’ man, especially between the marriages.”
Don Knotts Put Family First Despite Personal Problems and Left Us a Lot of Laughs
Don Knotts fought depression and hypochondria in his private life, but his two children, Karen and Thomas, consistently came first with him. In a January 2025 interview with Woman’s World, his daughter Karen pointed out that he was “a really loving dad”.
Knotts died on February 24th, 2006, at the age of 81, from lung cancer. Even though he was sick, his humor didn’t leave him. “He had this funniness that was just completely, insanely natural,” Karen said. “Even when he was dying, he was making us laugh in hysterics.”
What you need to know about Don Knotts’ kids, Karen and Thomas.
Karen Ann Knotts: Daughter of Don Knotts Shares Memories
Karen Ann Knotts, was born April 1, 1954, which was 10 years before her parents, Don Knotts and Kathryn Metz, broke up in 1964. Karen paints a picture of her childhood as happy and loving even though it was marked by the divorce “a little surreal” she said.
“A nice, pretty safe neighborhood in Glendale which was almost like a Mayberry,” Karen describes the area to Murfreesboro Post in 2011. “We were sort of a small Midwest town community in the middle of the biggest city Los Angeles.”
Since her father won Emmy for his role on The Andy Griffith Show, Karen was aware that her dad was a famous TV actor but said the greatness of his humility never changed.
“Life with my dad was so normal,” she said. “He was such a great, multi-faceted man. I had a terrific relationship with my dad.”
Karen revealed in the interview with Fox News in 2021, Don Knotts depression which was an issue for a lifetime of Don Knotts.
“I became a little therapist,” I remember myself trying to encourage him not to be so down and to be more hopeful,” she added.
Don Knotts, a Loving Father who Set the Bar High, Was Uncertain About Acting Careers
Depression was one of the issues Don Knotts dealt with, but his daughter Karen sees him mostly as a cheerful and jovial person. “My dad was naturally witty and funny. He was a good father. I’m telling you he wasn’t a tough father, but he set high standards for us,”
They clashed over the issue of Karen’s wish to go into acting like her father. Even though Knotts liked taking Karen and her brother Thomas to the sets and he even allowed them to be extras in one of his movies, he was a little apprehensive about them making a career out of it.
“He met a lot of people who were trying to make it in the business and ended up failing. They had nobody to turn to. They lived pretty rough lives. And he didn’t want to see that happening to me,” Karen told Fox News. “He just didn’t want me to face that struggle in Hollywood.”
Karen Knotts Stayed on the Path of Acting Despite Her Father’s First Disapproval and She Shared the Screen with Him in 1986
Don Knotts was initially against her becoming an actress, but Karen was resolute in her decision. “I think he had a variety show when I was 16 and he would put me on the show,” she mentioned. “We would do a sketch together. He would sing to me and it was just wonderful. So he eventually came around.”
In 1986, Karen and her father acted together in the television movie Return to Mayberry, which also brought Don Knotts back with Andy Griffith and Ron Howard. Karen was Opie’s receptionist in the movie.
“It was great — I really enjoyed it,” she told Sedona Red Rock News in 2016. “They gave me a hotel room all to myself. It was like I was one of the gang from the old days.”
Karen Knotts Honors Her Father’s Legacy Through Acting, Writing, and Comedy
Karen Knotts has pursued a multi-faceted career in entertainment as an actress, writer, and comedian. Following the death of her father Don Knotts in 2006, she developed a solo show called Tied Up In Knotts, which is about her experiences as the daughter of the famous actor.
“It was my way of acknowledging him since that was the way I knew him best: as a terrific, loving dad,” Karen said on her site. “I attempt to portray the lively spirit of Don, the character, because I always felt he was the funniest when he was simply being himself.”
In 2021, she came out with a memoir with the same title, in which she disclosed more about her father’s personality and life. “He was fun, easy to like and just an excellent dad till the very end,” she expressed to Fox News. “And I think the book conveys just how wonderful he was.”
Thomas Knotts: Don Knotts’ Son Reminisces Battling a Busy Father
Thomas Knotts is the second child of Don Knotts and Kathryn Metz. He and his sister Karen grew up in Glendale, Los Angeles.
When Thomas was 3, his dad was famous all over the country because of The Andy Griffith Show. Don Knotts had a very successful acting career, so he was away from home most of the time. Still, Karen shared with Fox News, ClubFoxNews, “He was gone a lot, but he was always checking in on us. And he always made time for us when he wasn’t working. I never felt neglected at all. Neither did my brother.”
Both Karen and Thomas were able to see their father working on different projects and even appeared as extras in his movie The Shakiest Gun in the West.
Don Knotts quit The Andy Griffith Show in 1965 to pursue a career in movies. In 1970, he hosted The Don Knotts Show, a variety show that lasted one season. In the 2015 biography Andy and Don: The Making of a Friendship and a Classic American TV Show, Thomas revealed that there was a year when his father had a difficult time in his career.
Thomas Knotts Reflects on Father’s Work Ethic and Challenges of Growing up as a Celebrity
Thomas Knotts remembers one year in his father Don Knotts’s career when things were so tough, that he called it “the hardest time I ever saw him physically and mentally.” “He was so under the pressure that he worked almost non-stop day and night. He was really stressed out,” Thomas told.
In contrast to his sister Karen, Thomas is not a fan of the limelight. Having a celebrity father was “traumatic” for him at times, he agreed with Karen’s memoir, “I’ve always had a bit of a love-hate relationship with it. On the one hand, I like the attention and that it makes me unique and stand out. But then I thought maybe in my engineering field, my colleagues would not take me seriously if I was known as Don Knotts’ son. ” Honestly, I still have that feeling.”
Thomas is a graduate of the University of Southern California (B.A.) and the University of California, Berkeley (M.A.). He is an electrical engineer by profession. He and his wife Cathy were blessed with a son in 1993, and Thomas became a grandfather for the first time.
