Andy Samuel Griffith (born June 1, 1926) is an
American actor, producer, writer, director and southern gospel singer.[1] He gained prominence in the starring role of A Face in the Crowd before he was better known for his starring roles, playing the title
characters in the 1960s sitcom, The Andy Griffith Show, for CBS and in the 1980s and 1990s legal drama, Matlock, on NBC and later
ABC.
Comedian to film star
Richard Linke signed Griffith to Capitol Records, who started out in show business as
something of a stand-up comedian, although a better description might be monologist. His first
success was a 1953 live recording of "What It Was, Was Football," a story about a country boy at
his first football game delighting in the "big orange drinks" and the boys running up and down the "cow pasture" in "the awfulest
fight I have ever seen in my life" and "these purty girls a-wearin' these little-bitty short dresses and a-dancin' around." It
sold more an 900,000 copies, and Griffith would commute to New York City. Later that year,
he recorded "Number One Street", telling the story of a rural family travelling to Florida on
U.S. Route 1.
By 1954, he was on Broadway, starring in
No Time for Sergeants, a play about a country boy in the Air Force. Griffith reprised his lead role in the play for the movie version in 1958; the film also featured Don Knotts as a military psychiatrist, marking the
beginning of a life-long association between Griffith and Knotts. No Time for Sergeants is also considered the direct
inspiration for Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.. Also in 1958, Griffith portrayed a
United States Coast Guard sailor in the movie Onionhead.
Dramatic pinnacle
In 1957, Griffith starred in A Face in the
Crowd. Again, he played a "country boy", but this "country boy" was manipulative and power-hungry; a drifter who
became a television host and used his show as a gateway to political power. Co-starring Patricia
Neal, Walter Matthau, Tony Franciosa
and Lee Remick (in her film debut), this now-classic film showcased Griffith's powerful
talents as a dramatic actor and singer.
It also showed early on the power of television upon the masses. Directed by Elia Kazan,
written by Budd Schulberg, ostensibly based on the alleged onstage phoniness of
Will Rogers and Arthur Godfrey, the prescient film
was seldom run on television until the 1990s. A 2005 DVD reissue
came complete with a mini-documentary on the film with comments from Schulberg and surviving cast members Griffith, Franciosa and
Neal.
Southern character actor
Griffith first appeared as a character performer on two episodes of The United States Steel Hour. He made other
character appearances on Playhouse 90, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.,
Mayberry R.F.D., The Mod Squad,
Hawaii Five-O, The Doris Day
Show, Here's Lucy, The Bionic
Woman, Fantasy Island, among many others. He also reprised his role as
Ben Matlock on Diagnosis Murder in 1997,
and his final guest-starring role to date was on an episode of Dawson's Creek.
TV roles
The Andy Griffith Show
Before The Andy Griffith Show, Griffith appeared as a country sheriff (who was also justice-of-the-peace and editor of
the local newspaper) in an episode of The Danny Thomas Show. This episode,
in which Thomas's character is stopped for speeding in the little town of Mayberry, served as a backdoor pilot for Griffith's own show. Both shows were produced by Sheldon Leonard. Griffith starred in his own series called, The Andy Griffith Show, beginning in 1960, for CBS, alongside other successful 1960s family
sitcoms that dealt with widowhood, such as:
My Three Sons, Family Affair,
Beulah, The Beverly
Hillbillies, The Lucy Show, Julia, The Courtship of Eddie's
Father and The Brady Bunch. Co-starring on the show was a familiar
character actor, comedian and longtime friend of Griffith's from Morgantown, Don Knotts, who played the role of Taylor's cousin
and partner, Deputy Barney Fife, from 1960 to 1965, and had a
wonderful chemistry, for the show’s first five seasons. And also starring on The Andy Griffith Show was an inexperienced actor,
Ron Howard, who played the role of Taylor's only son, Opie Taylor, and for most of the 1960s, there
was a strong connection between Griffith & Howard, as the two would share their own values on the show, and created a
professional father-and-son relationship.
The show took place in Mayberry where Griffith's character Andy Taylor, a widower, was the
sheriff and town sage. It was an immediate hit. Though Griffith never received a writing credit for the show, he worked on the
development of every script. Though co-star Knotts was frequently lauded, Griffith was never nominated for an Emmy during the
show's run. In 1967, Griffith was under contract with CBS to do one more season of the show, but
Griffith decided to quit the show to pursue a movie career and other projects, the following year. On one episode of
The Andy Griffith Show Taylor and Fife are looking at their old high school
yearbook. Look closely-these are the actual High School photographs of Andy Griffith and Don Knotts!
Other series and Matlock
After leaving his still-popular show in 1968, Griffith starred in less successful series such as
The Headmaster (1970), The New Andy Griffith
Show (1971), Salvage 1 (1979), and The Yeagers (1980).
After spending time in rehabilitation for leg paralysis due to Guillain-Barre Syndrome in 1986,
Griffith came back to work in another popular TV series as the title character
Ben Matlock, in Matlock. Griffith's
character was a country lawyer in Atlanta, who was known for his southern drawl and
always winning his cases. By the end of its first season it was a ratings powerhouse on Tuesday nights. Also starring on
Matlock during the first season was familiar actress Linda Purl who played Matlock's
younger daughter Charlene Matlock. She had limited appearances with the seasoned actor
and was dismissed from the show after 1 season. Purl was replaced by Nancy Stafford, who
was Miss Florida in the Miss Universe Pageant of
1976, an unknown actress at the time, future speaker and best-selling author of Christian books. She was a
Fort Lauderdale native who played the role of Matlock's law partner, aide, and
friend, Michelle Thomas (beginning in 1987 to her last
appearance in 1992). In five years, the chemistry of both Griffith & Stafford were wonderful.
Well-known character actor and future minister Kene Holliday played Matlock's first
private investigator, Tyler Hudson. Despite the fact that he got along with Griffith, he
was fired in 1989, due to complications from the star's late arrival on set, skipping lines, and
his legal battle with drugs which led to his arrest. He was replaced by another young veteran character actor, film star, cowboy,
football player, western buff, military brat and college student from the Los
Angeles suburb of Rialto, Clarence
Gilyard, playing the role of Matlock's second private investigator, Conrad
McMasters from 1989 to 1993. Compared to the relationships of
Griffith's, Holliday's & Stafford's, Clarence's chemistry and on- and off-screen friendship with Andy was an asset to the
program. In addition, he also became Gilyard's acting coach and mentor. And also joining the cast of Matlock for the
series' seventh season in 1992, was longtime film and character actor, future Nash Bridges star, writer and producer, Daniel Roebuck, as Matlock's assistant
Cliff Lewis. His appearances proved to be so popular that he was given a starring role in
1993, and stayed with the series until the end. Roebuck also appeared on early episodes of
Matlock, through various characters. Though the show was nominated for 4 Emmys,
Griffith once again was not even nominated. During the series' sixth season, he served as Writer,
Executive Producer, and Director of the show.
The show ended in 1995. Distributed by Viacom, it has seen
long-running success in syndication.
Gilyard, who was a devout fan of Andy Griffith's since the 1960s, had watched his mentor's first highly-rated long-running
sitcom, based on the real-life values in Mayberry,
when the future actor was primarily in grade school. After having the experience learning from Griffith he auditioned for his
first prime job replacing the unhappy Holliday. He beat out 3 other actors for the role and said of his idol/friend, "I was doing
a lot of stress management that day," With a lesser smile, Gilyard said, "I decided to forget about the audition script and focus
on Andy the man. Having grown up with The Andy Griffith Show, adoring the father/son relationship, I just figured to be
Opie for a day. Well, I blew it. I was disappointed with myself, thinking I would never work again. But I turned on the TV in the
limousine taking me back to the airport that night, and my second episode of Diff'rent Strokes happened to be on. I felt
it was a good omen." In addition, Clarence also said prior to the casting, "There is a God in Heaven, because the character fits
me like a glove. McMasters is a serious private eye with his finger on the pulse of Atlanta, though he's fun to be around and has
time for girlfriends. Lots of them. I see him as a former college football player and rodeo cowboy who stumbled on a job as a
deputy sheriff in North Carolina, then worked his way up to bigger and better things." Gilyard left the show in 1993, after the
show switched networks from NBC to ABC,
hence, most of his screen-time on Matlock was reduced. At the same time, he was offered a co-starring role prior to
shooting the pilot for Walker, Texas Ranger on CBS, where he stayed on the show for 9 consecutive seasons,making him a star in his own right. Today, he along with
Stafford & Roebuck are good friends with Griffith.
Roebuck, also a huge fan of Andy Griffith's has said of the show:" Matlock is a show about a lawyer who wears the same
suit all the time,and he solves cases and he gets paid lots of money to do it." In addition he also said, "Andy took a great deal
of interest in producing, rewriting, always tweaking it. As I said on Matlock, we worked very hard and nobody worked harder than
Andy Griffith, who'd be pulling a 12 hour day, you know, when he was in his late 60s, and I don't know a lot of people my age who
would do that consistently everyday," said Daniel. "I love the time that we had together on the set; and we had a wonderful,
professional relationship. The time that I spent with Andy, as an actor, was some of the best times I had, as an actor." The
final thing that Roebuck said of Griffith's career (as a singer): "He loved music so much, it was something else that Andy
brought to the show, it wasn't just the humor, it was the music. Anybody who watches Matlock consistently will remember that
there's music, throughout the show." Today, Roebuck is also on good terms with Griffith, and will always remember of what an
incredible actor he has become.
Movies
Griffith also starred in many television films such as The Strangers In 7A
(1972), Winter Kill (1974) and Pray for the Wildcats (1974). In 1981 Griffith won an Emmy nomination
for his role in the TV film Murder In Texas and in 1983 won further acclaim for his role as
a homicidal villain in the TV film Murder In Coweta
County, co-starring music legend Johnny Cash as the Sherriff {Ironically not only
was Griffith not playing a law officer but Cash had played a killer on an episode of TV's Columbo. During this period, Griffith also appeared in two big screen movies, both of which were flops at the
box office. He co-starred with Jeff Bridges in the 1975 comedy Hearts of the West, and appeared alongside Tom Berenger as the
villainous Colonel Ticonderoga in the 1985 movie Rustlers' Rhapsody. He also
had an appearance as the villain in the movies Spy Hard (1996) and Savages
(1974), a made for TV movie based on the novel Deathwatch by Robb White. In
the 1999 film A Holiday Romance, directed by Bobby Roth, Andy played the role
of "Jake Peterson." A Holiday Romance is available on DVD. In the film "Daddy
and them", Griffith portrayed "O.T. Montgomery," the patriarch of a dysfunctional southern family. In the 2007 movie
Waitress, Griffith plays a character named "Old Joe". He briefly promoted the
role when he appeared on Larry King Live in 2006, on an episode paying tribute to
Don Knotts.
Griffith, revered for his wholesome image for decades, revealed a more complex side of himself in the A Face in the Crowd DVD documentary, where he recalled director Kazan prepping him to shoot his
first scene with Lee Remick. Remick played a teenage baton twirler who captivates Griffith's
character on a trip to Arkansas. Griffith recalls that Kazan wanted a specific facial expression from him to convey the
character's emotional state, which Kazan summed up in the phrase, "Look at her like you want to f--k her!" [1]
Singing and recording career
Griffith sang as part of some of his acting roles, most notably in A Face In The Crowd and on some episodes of The
Andy Griffith Show. In recent years, he has recorded successful albums of classic Christian hymns, for Sparrow Records.
In 1999 Andy was inducted into the Country Gospel Music Hall of Fame with fellow artists Lulu
Roman, Barbara Mandrell, David L Cook,
Gary S. Paxton, Jimmy Snow, Loretta Lynn and Jodi Miller. [2]
Griffith was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President
George W. Bush on 9 November 2005.
The C.F. Martin Guitar company offers an Andy Griffith signature model.
Trademarks
Griffith's trademarks are driving 2 separate Ford automobiles: (Galaxie on The Andy Griffith Show, and
Crown Victoria on Matlock), his
southern drawl, and for wearing his gray suit (on Matlock).
Name dispute
William Harold Fenrick of Platteville, Wisconsin legally changed his name to
Andrew Jackson Griffith and ran unsuccessfully for sheriff of Grant County in November 2006. Subsequently, actor Griffith filed a
lawsuit against Griffith/Fenrick, asserting that he violated trademark, copyright and privacy laws by changing his name for the
"sole purpose of taking advantage of Griffith's notoriety in an attempt to gain votes." However, on May
4, 2007, U.S. District Judge John Shabaz ruled Griffith/Fenrick did not violate federal
trademark law because he did not use the Griffith name in a commercial transaction but instead “to seek elective office,
fundamental First Amendment protected speech.”
Friendship with other actors
Griffith's relationship with comedian Don Knotts began in 1955, when they both co-starred
together in the Broadway play and film No
Time for Sergeants and its 1958 sequel. A couple of years later, Knotts would co-star with Griffith on
The Andy Griffith Show for five seasons, playing Griffith's cousin on the
series. After leaving the show, Knotts and Griffith kept in touch with one another until Knotts' death in early 2006. Knotts also
had a recurring role on Matlock. It was reported in an interview with
Entertainment Tonight that Griffith traveled from his Manteo, North Carolina home
to Los Angeles to visit a terminally ill Don
Knotts in the hospital as Knotts succumbed to complications of lung cancer.
Griffith's longtime friendship with Ron Howard began in 1960, when the child actor
guest-starred alongside him on an episode of Make Room For Daddy which led
to the success of The Andy Griffith Show that same year. For 8 seasons,
Griffith & Howard shared a unique father-son relationship on the set. When the show ended, Howard also guest-starred
alongside Griffith on its spin-off show, Mayberry R.F.D., where his character's
father marries long-time girlfriend Helen Crump. Howard never made any cameo
appearances on Griffith's series, Matlock, but was invited to the People's
Choice Award in 1987, where Andy was honored that same year. At the same time, Ron also found out that Matlock was
his mentor's favorite series. These days, Howard keeps busy maintaining his long-term career as a successful director and
producer of high-budget films. He and Griffith keep in touch by telephone, sharing news about family and personal activities.
Most recently, Howard & his family attended Griffith's latest movie, Waitress, which they reportedly enjoyed.
Personal life
Griffith was married to Barbara Bray Edwards for 23 years (1949-1972), with whom he adopted two children, son, Andrew Samuel
Griffith Jr. (aka "Sam Griffith"), a real-estate developer (b. 1957 - d. January 17, 1996), and a daughter, Dixie Nan. After his divorce from Edwards,
he married Solica Cassuto (1973 - 1981). Griffith married his current wife Cindi Knight on April 2, 1983.
Health
Griffith's first health problem started in April 1983, when he was diagnosed with
Guillain-Barre syndrome, and couldn't walk for 7 months. Throughout his battle
he spent his time in a rehabilitation center fighting for his life to overcome paralysis from the knees down.
On May 9, 2000, Griffith underwent quadruple heart bypass
surgery at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia.
After a fall, Griffith underwent hip surgery on September 5, 2006, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.
Griffith in popular culture
- Andy Griffith aka Ben Matlock was spoofed on a episode of The Simpsons.
- In Episode 2x01 and 2x02 of the TV-sitcom Married... with Children,
the fictional town of Dumpwater has only one celebrity, a man who met Andy Griffith.
- To this day, Mount Airy, North Carolina, Griffith's home town, annually
celebrates The Andy Griffith Show. In the town, Floyd's Barber Shop is still open and visitors can eat a meal in the
Snappy Lunch Diner, a place Griffith often visited growing up and even mentioned once on The Andy Griffith Show.
- Griffith was spoofed in a surreal sketch on the Canadian comedy series SCTV. The sketch conflated his Andy Taylor character with the persona of TV talk show host
Merv Griffin. In SCTV's version of Mayberry, the sheriff (Rick Moranis) and Floyd the barber (Eugene Levy) impersonate
Howard McNear's character from the show, both exclaiming "Ooh!" in unison.
Albums
- The Collection (2005)
- Pickin' and Grinnin': The Best of Andy Griffith (2005)
- Bound for the Promised Land: The Best of Andy Griffith Hymns (2005)
- The Christmas Guest (2003)
- Back to Back Hits (2003)
- Absolutely the Best (Remastered) (2002)
- Favorite Old Time Songs (2000)
- Wit & Wisdom of Andy Griffith (1998)
- Just as I Am: 30 Favorite Old Time Hymns (1998)
- Sings Favorite Old-Time Songs (1997)
- Somebody Bigger Than You and I (1996)
- I Love to Tell the Story: 25 Timeless Hymns (1996). This album won a Grammy
Award in 1997.
- American Originals (1993)
- Shouts the Blues and Old Timey Songs (1959) (Note: this set includes a guest appearance by bluesmen Brownie McGhee and Sonny Terry).
- Just for Laughs (1958)
Filmography
Features
Short subjects
- Rowan & Martin at the Movies (1968)
- What It Was Was Football (1997)
Television work
Honors
Griffith received a Grammy Award in 1997. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom on November 9,
2005.[3] A few weeks earlier,
he helped preside over the reopening of the Memorial Hall on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus and donated a substantial amount of
memorabilia from his career to the university.
In October, 2002, an 11-mile stretch of US Highway 52 in Griffith's hometown of Mount Airy, North Carolina was dedicated as the Andy
Griffith Parkway.
A statue of Andy and Opie was constructed in Pullen Park in Raleigh and at the Andy Griffith Playhouse in his hometown of
Mount Airy, North Carolina.
References
External links
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