Andy Griffith was nominated for the 1956 Tony Award for Best-Supporting or Features Actor in a Comedy and Drama for "No Time for Sergeants" as Private, Will Stockdale and played the role in the stage, television and movie productions.
Mac Hyman based his all-time best-selling novel on his experiences growing up in Cordele, GA, and as a navigator in the Army Air Corps during World War II.
A live TV production starring Andy Griffith had previously been telecast on The United States Steel Hour on Tuesday, March 15th, 1955 - No Time for Sergeants.
Sammy Jackson (no relation to Samuel L. Jackson), who would six years later star in short-lived mid-Sixties sitcom version of movie in the Andy Griffith part, appears as an uncredited inductee in a number of scenes.
The stage production of "No Time for Sergeants" by Ira Levin opened at the Alvin Theater in New York on Thursday, October 20th, 1955 and ran for 796 performances. Andy Griffith received a 1956 Tony Award nomination for Best Actor.
This was Don Knotts' film debut. He met Andy Griffith when Knotts had a small part in Broadway's "No Time For Sergeants". Griffith remembered Knotts when he was looking for someone to play bumbling Deputy Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show. The two formed a lifelong friendship. After Knotts left Andy Griffith Show, he later made guest appearances on it and another Andy Griffith TV series, Matlock. In 2006, Griffith even broke the news of Knotts' passing to the media.