Ken Berry was a dancer long before he became known as an actor in shows like F-Troop and Mayberry R.F.D. As a child, he loved watching musicals and films starring Fred Astaire or Gene Kelly. Ken started tap dancing at age 12 and, at age 15, won a local talent competition. It was another competition--years later, for Ed Sullivan--that finally launched his career as an actor. In a 2012 interview, Ken admits that he always thought dancing would be his main vocation, while acting would be "something I would do between song and dance routines."
Ken Berry and Lucille Ball actually worked together many years before Lucy asked Ken to guest star in a 1968 episode of The Lucy Show. In the 1950s, Ken was an early member of the talent development program at Desilu. He left that team after just 6 months to pursue a role on Broadway. Then he returned to Desilu Productions in 1960, taking a recurring role (starting in the second season) in the CBS sitcom, The Ann Sothern Show.