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THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN Autographs

THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN is my favorite Don Knotts movie and one of my all-time favorites. There is something about horror and comedy that mix well together. When Don Knotts left TAGS, he had a movie contract with Universal Studios. Of the movies, he made THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN had a very Mayberry feel to it. There is little wonder since some 20 TAGS alums were in the movie. The movie has become a Halloween classic. It is a good, clean comedy that can be enjoyed by young and old.

When Don Knotts received the script, he knew there was a problem and called his old friend Andy Griffith. Andy read the script and agreed it needed rewriting even though it had been penned by TAGS writers James Fritzell and Everett Greenbaum. With the improvements made by Griffith, they were able to begin the film. Griffith did not take any writing credit and was helping his friend. One of his suggestions was to have the "Attaboy Luther" become a catchphrase used more than once. The director was Alan Rafkin, who had directed over 25 TAGS episodes.

The main credited cast is given below, along with others. I have not included every non-speaking extra IMDB says was in the movie. The uncredited ones I list below had a notable part in the film or a speaking role. At the end are "extras" who also appeared on The Andy Griffith Show. There are 20 people in the credits of the movie. Of those, eight also appeared on TAGS. The first ten listed appear in both the opening and closing credits.

In the comments below, you will find exemplars of every credited performer in the movie, with the exception of Jim Begg. Ones from Worthpoint are not mine and are cropped. Those are being shown for educational purposes. They are, for the most part, from the John Verzi collection.

When a ** appears after the name, that means an exemplar is requested.

[CREDITED CAST]

Don Knotts ...Luther Heggs
Joan Staley ...Alma Parker
Liam Redmond ...Kelsey
Dick Sargent ...George Beckett
Skip Homeier ...Ollie Weaver
Reta Shaw ...Mrs. Halycon Maxwell
Lurene Tuttle ... Mrs. Natalie Miller
Phil Ober ... Nicholas Simmons
Harry Hickox... Police Chief Art Fuller
Charles Lane ... Plaintiff's Attorney Whitlow
Jesslyn Fax ... Mrs. Hutchinson
Nydia Westman ... Mrs. Cobb
George Chandler ... Judge Harley Nast
Robert Cornthwaite ... Defense Attorney Springer
James Begg ... Police Officer Herkie **
Sandra Gould ... Loretta Pine
James Millhollin ... Mr. Milo Maxwell
Cliff Norton ... Charlie the Bailiff
Ellen Corby Miss Neva Tremaine
Jim Boles ... Billy Ray Fox

[UNCREDITED ROLES]

Hope Summers ... Susanna Blush
Hal Smith ... Calver Weems
J. Edward McKinley ... Mayor Preston
Burt Mustin ... Mr. Deligondo
Al Checco ... Gaylord Patie witness for the defense
Lee Krieger ... Lester the process server
Teddy Quinn ... Boy getting Luther's autograph
Eddie Quillan ... Elevator operator
Bern Hoffman ... Big man friend of Billy Ray Fox
Adair Jameson ... Eileen secretary to Mr. Maxwell.
Dick Wilson ... Band leader at picnic
Harry Hines ... Bum at the picnic "I'm Rotary."
Jimmie Horan ... Observer on the street
Herbie Faye ... Man sitting at Alma's table in Cafe
Lillian Field ... Edna June Weems **
Everett Greenbaum ... Voice yelling "Attaboy Luther" **
Joan Granville ... Waitress **
Ella Edwards [Ella Raino] ... Cafe Cashier **
Ruth Thom ... Psychic Occult Society Member **
Maxine Semon ... Psychic Occult Society Member **
Dorothy Keller ... Psychic Occult Society Member **
Florence Lake ... Psychic Occult Society Member **
Margaret Wheeler ... Psychic Occult Society Member **
Dorothy Love ... Psychic Occult Society Member **
Ceil Cabot ... Psychic Occult Society Member **
Phil Arnold ... Jury Foreman **
Michael Jeffers ... Spectator at trial

Tags: Burt, Don, Joan, Knotts, Mustin, Ober, Phil, Staley

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Scott Paul on November 6, 2022 at 5:13pm

DON KNOTTS (1924-2006) the earliest signature of his I have seen. It is his World War II draft registration card signed when he was 18 with his full name Jesse Donald Knotts.

Permalink Reply by Scott Paul on November 7, 2022 at 10:54am

DON KNOTTS as Luther Heggs. The autograph above is the only one I have seen where he used his full name, "Jesse Donald Knotts." He hated the name "Jesse," so to tease him, Andy would call him "Jess" as a joke.

Permalink Reply by Eric Keith Longo on November 8, 2022 at 11:23am

That is really cool Scott!

Permalink Reply by Scott Paul on November 8, 2022 at 11:30am

Thank you, Eric. I would like to see more early examples of Don Knotts. Now the two earliest examples of both Andy Griffith and Don Knotts are on here!

Permalink Reply by Scott Paul on February 28, 2024 at 8:17am

DON KNOTTS contract concerning The Don Knotts Show dated 1971. It aired during the 1970-1971 season. It had 24 episodes. Andy Griffith appeared in one of those episodes. Signed contracts for Don Knotts are especially difficult to find. One of those "card" companies cut his signature out of one contract to make a card while he was still alive!

Permalink Reply by Scott Paul on November 8, 2022 at 11:05am

JOAN STALEY (1940-2019) was an actress and Playboy Playmate of the Month for 1958 who appeared in both movies and television, mainly from the 1950s to the 1970s. She did shows such as The Munsters, The Jack Benny Program, Wagon Train, Bonanza, 77 Sunset Strip, The Dick Van Dyke Show, and many others. She was on two episodes of television Batman as "Okie Annie." She was perfect in her role of Alma Parker in THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN. Except for an episode of Dallas, she had retired from acting in the early 1970s. Vintage material is rare, but she signed a lot of TTM in later years.

Permalink Reply by Scott Paul on November 8, 2022 at 11:14am

Don Knotts and Joan Staley.

Permalink Reply by Scott Paul on November 8, 2022 at 11:42am

LIAM REDMOND (1913-1989) was an Irish character actor known for CURSE OF THE DEMON (1957), TOBRUK (1967), and BARRY LYNDON (1975), among many others. He worked in both British and American films and television. He appeared in episodes of Gunsmoke, Wagon Train, and Daniel Boone on American television. He played the role of "Kelsey" in THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN, the old janitor who tells Luther about the terrible murder house. His autograph is scarce.

Permalink Reply by Scott Paul on November 9, 2022 at 4:02am

LIAM REDMOND as "Kelsey" the janitor in THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN.

Permalink Reply by Scott Paul on November 9, 2022 at 4:49am

DICK SARGENT (1930-1994) is best known as the second Darren Stevens on Bewitched. He was on such shows as Gunsmoke, Wagon Train, Death Valley Days, The Waltons, I Dream of Jeanie, and many others. One of his earliest movies was the Sci-Fi classic THE BEAST WITH 1,000,000 EYES!" in 1955. In THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN Sargent plays George Beckett, the editor of the newspaper.