I thought I'd never get to see that. Florence Griffith Joyner -- every time she ran, I ran.
You know, when they called me about the role, I thought Knots Landing was a show about a houseboat with Andy Griffith!
My agent came to me with a deal from another publisher and I signed a deal and got the advance with no idea of what I was going to do. I probably procrastinated for almost a year, but we had meetings and I was basically going to spoof "Take Ivy," but then it kind of turned into something else. I wanted it to be a book of all the things that made me who I am, like Brooks Brothers, Hot Wheels, "The Andy Griffith Show" and G. I. Joes. I couldn't sit still and do it, so my agent had to come to my house and force me to do it.
Because I'm from North Carolina, you think I'm the Andy Griffith show, or something?
Twenty years after the Andy Griffith Show when Andy did Matlock, he hired me for four episodes. I told him I wanted to develop an Aunt Bea type role for Matlock, but he was against it. I did appear on other popular TV shows, like Family Affair, My Three Sons, Barnaby Jones and Little House on the Prairie.
I CAN MAKE YOUR PUSSY WHISTLE LIKE THE ANDY GRIFFITH THEME SONG.
They were all wonderful [on Andy Griffith Show], but I enjoyed Andy and Don and Ron the most. Ron played little Opie so well. He really took acting seriously and worked hard to deliver his lines well. Andy was always fun and liked to tease. Don was nothing like Barney. Don was very quiet, which shows what a good actor he was.
We actually grew closer as friends years later when we started doing personal appearances together. I stayed in touch with Andy [Griffith] and Don [Knotts] until they passed away.
Any film I do is not going to change the way black women have been portrayed, or black people have been portrayed, in cinema since the days of D. W. Griffith.
