I’ve got two contracts in my life. One, with my wife because we’re married. And, two, I’ve got a contract to protect Andy Dalton. I’ll do both of those to the best of my ability.
I’ve always enjoyed the big stunt scenes that I’ve had – from the barn fire when I first started in ‘Emmerdale,’ to years later when Victoria started a fire and Andy had to rescue people.
Andy wasn’t capable of any complicated thoughts or ideas. Ideas need a verb and a noun, a subject. Andy spoke in a kind of stumbling staccato. You had to finish sentences for him. So Andy operated through people who could do things for him. He wished things into happening, things he himself couldn’t do.
I think Andy Kaufman is to comedy what the Velvet Underground was to music – it’s like, 80 thousand records sold, but everybody who bought one started a band.
I’d rather people just call me by my name, Andy, than ‘Red Rifle.’
As a composer and as a musician I’m a true believer – and this is not to be overly diplomatic – I’m a believer that there’s artistry in everything from a lawn gnome to a desk chair to a symphony to an Andy Warhol painting. There’s art in absolutely everything.
I like Bill Murray a real lot. I like Andy Kaufman.
You find a personality whom you think the TV audience will embrace and find a format that is tailor-made for the personality. In the case of Andy Griffith, we moved the personality of a wily country shark – a funny and shrewd guy – into another arena. In this case, he is a lawyer, and it is a dramatic series.
When Andy died, I just drank to dumb my mind.
