His First Acting Gig
Following his stint in the military, Knotts came back to America and landed his first major acting gig in the TV soap opera ‘Search for Tomorrow’ from 1953 to 1955. Knotts’ character, Wilbur Peterson, had only a few lines in the duration of the show, but that role is considered his first big break. After that role, Knotts decided to stay away from dramas.
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After playing a serious role in the soap opera, he found his passion for comedy. “It was the only serious role I ever played professionally,” said Knotts much later in an Archive of American Television interview. It was in 1965 that Knotts came to fame on Steve Allen’s variety show, as part of Allen’s theater company. He stayed with the Allen program through the 1959/1960 season.