Frances Yarborough, also known as Francey Yarborough, is the wife of the late actor Don Knotts. Her late husband was a five-time Emmy Award-winning comedian and actor, best known for playing Deputy Sheriff Barney Fife on the 1960s sitcom The Andy Griffith Show.
Knotts’ third and last wife before his death in 2006 was Yarborough. They first met in the late 1980s. On the other hand, the couple had been in a marital breakdown for several years.
Francey and Knotts have been friends for almost two decades. Despite the large age difference, they established a strong bond. Relive their first meeting, their journey as husband and wife, and learn more about Francey Yarborough.
Frances Yarborough with her late husband (Source: Pinterest)
Biography of Frances Yarborough
Frances Yarborough was born to Donald Howard Yarborough and Charity O’Connell Yarborough. She was born in the sixties of the last century, so she is over seventy.
Donald Howard Yarborough, her father, was a Texas Liberal Democrat who ran for governor in 1962 and supported John F. Kennedy.
Furthermore, her father was a Marine officer who served as a company commander in China at the end of World War II. In September 2009, Francey’s father died of Parkinson’s disease. Alongside them, Yarborough’s father was an advocate for the rights of Mexican immigrants and blacks. He is the owner of his own law office.
Donald, Francey’s father, was born on December 15, 1925 in New Orleans. Likewise, her grandfather was the president of a bank that went bankrupt during the Great Recession. When Donald was 12 years old, his family moved to Houston.
Frances Yarborough’s Siblings
Frances Yarborough is her sister. Francey is the sister-in-law of Daniel de Visé, a writer and journalist who worked for The Washington Post, Miami Herald and three other newspapers during her 23-year career. De Vise also wrote a biography of Yarborough’s late husband.
Inez Vanderburg in Austin, Texas, Leverett Yarborough in Bend, Oregon, Danny Yarborough in Los Angeles, Donald Arthur Yarborough and Mollie O’Connell Yarborough are some of Yarborough’s siblings from other family ties.
She appeared in several movies
Although her full-time occupation is unknown, according to IMDb, Frances’ only film credit is in the 1976 crime drama ‘The Electric Chair’. Frances Yarborough met Don Knotts while working as a production assistant.
Yarborough also appeared as the third woman (a 1960s hippie who wanted to be an actress) in one of her husband’s plays, Knotts.
How did Frances Knotts meet her husband?
Frances Knotts is married to Don Knotts. It is known that the couple got married in 2002. But how and when did the couple first meet?
What a Country!, her husband Don’s fusion comedy, has just come to an abrupt end. Francey worked as a production assistant on the series. She played this character in the series from the beginning of 1987. It was also during this time that Don and Yarborough met. Knotts describes Francey as “a beautiful, kind actress who settled in Hollywood to do improv comedy” in her book Andy and Don: The Making of a Friendship and the Classic American TV Show. Her main responsibility at the time was to help her future husband, Don, memorize his lyrics.
The age difference is more than 30 years.
As previously reported, Yarborough was in his early twenties and the Andy Griffith Show actor was in his sixties when the couple first met. In the book, Andy and Don explain that they are soul mates.
“We had an instant relationship,” the multiple Emmy winner’s wife recalls their romantic first love.
“I’ve lived a silly life, and so has he. We just talked and talked. He loved hearing about my family. He came from a crazy family, and I came from a crazy family. crazy family. He loves human quirks.” added production assistant before
Yarborough went on to say, “My first thought of the comic actor was…” “‘My first impression of him was that he seemed very vulnerable. I had never met anyone. so vulnerable before.”
Soon after meeting, Don and Francey began hanging out at La Scala in Beverly Hills, exchanging stories and making fun of each other.
They were a couple after a few months, and Francey moved into Don’s Century City’s apartment. They married in 2002 and remained husband and wife until Knotts’ death in 2006.
Frances Yarborough’s husband was an alcoholic before they met
Don is mostly nocturnal when he meets Francey, drinking too much and eating too little. He became a smoker, stayed up too late and could only sleep with the help of drugs. But soon after meeting Yarborough, the Incredible Mr. Limpet suddenly quit smoking. Francey recalls one day he heard wheezing and dropped a cigarette and was never seen again.
Don Knotts was married twice before Frances
Knotts’ first wife was Kathryn Metz, whom he married in 1947. They had two children: son Thomas Knotts and daughter Karen Knotts. Metz and Don’s marriage ended in 1964.
Yarborough’s late husband then married his second wife, Loralee Czuchna, in 1974 and they were married until 1983. After Czuchna, the Morgantown native married Frances Yarborough.
Frances Yarborough’s Last Days with Don Knotts
Don Knotts and Francey were living in the Century City neighborhood of Los Angeles at the time of his death. During this time, Don was diagnosed with cancer as well as a severe nervous breakdown and a degenerative eye disease known as macular degeneration.
Don urges Francey not to tell anyone about her illness, let alone the tabloids. According to reports, the reason was that the West Virginia-born actor still wanted to work and the ailing actor could not find a job. Francey and Don decide not to tell Don’s children that he is dying. They didn’t even tell Knotts’ best friend, Andy Griffith.
The death of Don Knotts
Don said in his will that he did not want to be kept alive by artificial means. As a result, you turn off the computer. Francey’s husband, Don Knotts, died on Friday, February 24, 2006, at 11:00 p.m., with her, Karen and Tom in their arms.
Lung cancer-related pneumonia was the main cause of death for the former ventriloquist. The funeral was held at Westwood Memorial Park, near the graves of Marilyn Monroe, Dean Martin and Truman Capote. He takes the depth in human pride and pain and turns it into something hilarious and endearing. The inscription was written by widow Francey Yarborough Knotts.
Yarborough said after Knotts’ death that her late husband had “seen the poignancy in everyone’s pride and pain” and figured out how to turn it into endearing humour. Don Knotts last appeared as the Turkish Mayor Lurkey in the 2005 film Chicken Little.
Frances Yarborough after her husband’s death
After the death of her husband, Knotts’ last wife, Francey, gradually became an ex-wife. As a result, it remains a mystery what he is doing at this point. Given that she has never acted professionally, there are few titles that define Francey. Furthermore, Yarborough’s aversion to modern media platforms further complicates the situation.
Did she inherit Don Knott’s fortune?
No full disclosure has been made about the distribution of the veteran comedian’s fortune since his death, nor will it ever be made public.
Although he had a net worth of about $20 million at the time of his death, Knotts family members did not disclose where that money went. In any case, Francey probably inherited a considerable fortune after the death of her millionaire husband.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education