![]() Griffith later played a small-town sheriff in a television episode of “The Danny Thomas Show,” which led to “The Andy Griffith Show.”ĭon Knotts, who had appeared with Griffith in the stage and screen versions of “No Time for Sergeants,” had seen “The Danny Thomas Show” episode and suggested the sheriff would need a deputy in a full-fledged TV series. He made a big impact as a dramatic actor in his first movie, 1957’s “A Face in the Crowd,” playing a scheming drifter whose aw-shucks persona catapults him to success as a television show host until his dark side was exposed. That led to an appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” and from there Griffith starred in both the stage and film versions of “No Time for Sergeants.” He first made a name with a comedy recording, “What It Was, Was Football,” a spoof of a rube trying to follow the action at his first football game. At the University of North Carolina he earned a degree in dramatic arts in 1949 and started performing in singing groups. Griffith was born June 1, 1926, and had ambitions of being a preacher. “We tried in every way to get that to happen but we were unable to do it,” Griffith told USA Today in discussing Mayberry’s all-white population. In fact, there were no regular black characters on the show. Some said Griffith’s Mayberry was too sanitized, with none of the strife generated by the anti-war and civil rights protests of the time. It contains such a heart, such a sense of community.” ![]() “‘The Andy Griffith Show’ and Mayberry represented in some sense this kind of idealized view of what America was. “It was at a point where America was really in turmoil,” executive producer John Watkin told USA Today. The show, a situation comedy, was an entertaining diversion for viewers from the social and political upheavals of the 1960s. And all the actors loved each other, too.” “The basic theme of our show was love,” Griffith said in a 2003 interview with CNN. There was little crime to fight in Mayberry so the stories centered on the sheriff and his interactions with the quirky townspeople. There was a fantastic equilibrium between his love of laughter and jokes and funny stories and songs and all that, and then he could turn on a dime and be the utmost professional.” Ron Howard, who played Griffith’s son Opie on the show and went on to become an Oscar-winning director, praised him by telling Entertainment Weekly’s website, “He was fantastic. “A performer of extraordinary talent, Andy was beloved by generations of fans and revered by entertainers who followed in his footsteps,” Obama said in a statement. President Barack Obama said he was saddened to hear of Griffith’s death. In an increasingly complicated world, we all yearn for the days of Mayberry.” “Andy Griffith graciously stepped into the living rooms of generations of Americans, always with the playful charm that made him the standard by which entertainers would be measured for decades. “North Carolina has lost its favorite son,” Governor Beverly Perdue said. The show depicted life in the friendly, slow-moving fictional town of Mayberry, North Carolina, which was widely believed to have been based on Griffith’s own hometown, Mount Airy, in that state. ![]() Griffith created another memorable TV character, the folksy defense lawyer in “Matlock” in the 1980s and 1990s, but it was his role as Sheriff Andy Taylor on the “The Andy Griffith Show” in the 1960s that gave him a place in television history. The family said Griffith “has been laid to rest on his beloved Roanoke Island,” but did not elaborate. His wife of three decades, Cindi Griffith, was at his bedside and issued a statement saying: “I cannot imagine life without Andy, but I take comfort and strength in God’s Grace and in the knowledge that Andy is at peace and with God.” at his home on Roanoke Island, Dare County Sheriff J.D. A wreath of flowers is pictured on the star of actor Andy Griffith on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood, California July 3, 2012.
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