Opie Taylor

Opie Taylor
Opie's first series appearance, "The New Housekeeper" (1960).
First appearance	"Danny Meets Andy Griffith" (1960), backdoor pilot
Last appearance	Return to Mayberry (1986)
Created by	Sheldon Leonard
Portrayed by	Ron Howard
Episode count	1 "Danny Meets Andy Griffith", backdoor pilot, Feb. 1960 210 The Andy Griffith Show, 1960-1968 1 Mayberry R.F.D., 1968-1971, spinoff series 1 Return to Mayberry, 1986, spinoff telemovie
Information
Gender	Male
Age	6 (in 1960 when The Andy Griffith Show debuts)
Date of birth	1954
Occupation	Newspaperman in Return to Mayberry
Family	Andy Taylor (father) Beatrice Taylor (great aunt) Nora (great aunt) Bradford J. Taylor (great uncle) 2 cousins (the sons of Nora) Helen Taylor nee Crump (step mother) Andrew Samuel Taylor, Jr. (half brother) wife child

Opie Taylor is a fictional character in the American television program, The Andy Griffith Show which was televised on CBS from October 3, 1960 to April 1, 1968. Opie Taylor appeared in 210 of the 249 episodes of The Andy Griffith Show, and appeared in 2 spin-off shows.

Opie is a motherless 6 year old when the series opens, who lives in the fictional and idealized small, sleepy southern community of Mayberry, North Carolina with his widowed father, Andy Taylor (Andy Griffith), the sheriff of Mayberry County, and his father's spinster aunt, Beatrice "Aunt Bee" Taylor (Frances Bavier). Both Andy and Opie became the catalyst of the show, and even shared their own father/son issues. Opie appears once in The Andy Griffith Show spinoff Mayberry R.F.D. and also in the 1986 reunion telemovie Return to Mayberry. The character is portrayed by Ron Howard. There are two explanations of the name's origin. One is that Opie Taylor was named by Andy Griffith after bandleader and radio actor Opie Cates.^[1][2] The other is that he was named for Opie Shelton (1915–1999), a childhood friend of Griffith, who went on to become president of the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.^[3]

First appearance

Opie makes a brief first appearance in the February 1960 backdoor pilot, "Danny Meets Andy Griffith", an episode from The Danny Thomas Show.

"The New Housekeeper"

In the first episode of The Andy Griffith Show (September 1960), Andy's Aunt Bee returns to Mayberry via Morgantown, West Virginia at her nephew's invitation in order to manage the Taylor household after Andy's housekeeper Rose marries and departs. Opie takes an instant dislike to Aunt Bee based upon his grief at losing his beloved Rose, although he does secretly enjoy her cooking. After discovering that she can neither play baseball or catch frogs, Opie declares that he will never love her. The final straw comes when she accidentally lets his pet bird escape, though the pet reappears at the end of the episode (the bird's disappearance throughout the rest of the series is never explained). Aunt Bee decides to leave but, upon realizing her intentions, Opie tells his father that she must stay, as she doesn't know how to do anything on her own.

Overview

Opie's relationship with his "Paw" Andy provided plot material for many episodes. In one episode ("Opie the Birdman", September 30, 1963), Andy teaches Opie the value of responsibility and parenthood after Opie accidentally kills a mother bird with his slingshot and leaves her three nestlings orphaned. Naming the birds "Wynken, Blynken, and Nod", Opie nurtures them until they are ready to be released into the wild.

Andy would sometimes misjudge Opie, suspecting him of being selfish and oblivious to the needs of the less fortunate. Andy would then discover to his chagrin that Opie had been self-sacrificing and generous. For example, in one episode, Opie forfeits a grocery store delivery job to allow a boy with an ill father to replace him. In another episode, Opie uses his savings to buy a friend a winter coat after his father lambastes him for contributing only three cents to a charity.

When not visiting his father at the courthouse, Opie would sometimes get into jams. Some of his juvenile misdeeds include: trespassing in a neighbor's barn, selling Miracle Salve to the citizens of Mayberry; accidentally destroying Aunt Bee's prize rose; concealing an abandoned baby in his clubhouse; tricking Goober Pyle into thinking a shaggy dog can speak, and starting his own tell-all community newspaper.

Pals, girlfriends, jobs

Teen Opie eats his breakfast cereal in a color episode.

Opie's best friend through the black-and-white run is Johnny Paul Jason; in color episodes, it is Arnold Bailey, who is the Doctor's son. He also has several other friends during his childhood including Howie Pruitt. In one episode, Opie's new friend Trey Bowden provokes Opie's jealousy when Andy takes a liking to Trey and invites him along on outings. Other new friends sometimes prove unworthy. One friend, for instance, encourages Opie to throw tantrums at home to get his way.

In another episode, Opie joins a secret club and is made keeper of the club's special candle. The club trespasses in a farmer's barn and, when the barn later burns to the ground, Opie is blamed. In the color episodes, Opie's best friend is a boy named Arnold Bailey but in one color episode, Opie hooks up with a boy that plays a mean trick on Goober. Both boys are taken to task by Andy for their mischief making. Opie is respectful and friendly to adults in Mayberry. He spends time at the filling station hanging out with Goober and the two often share their comic books.

Adult Opie in the 1986 reunion telemovie, "Return to Mayberry".

Opie has several girl friends including, in his boyhood, Karen Burgess (Ronda Jeter) and, in his teens, Mary Alice Carter (Morgan Brittany credited as Suzanne Cupito). He also develops crushes on Barney Fife's sweetheart Thelma Lou and on his father's sweetheart Helen Crump, inappropriately buying Helen a pair of stockings at the local ladies wear shop.

On the spin-off series Mayberry R.F.D., Helen and Andy marry and later on the series, Helen gives birth to Opie's half-brother, Andrew Samuel Taylor, Jr.

During his teens, Opie has a few jobs around Mayberry. He works in the drug store as a soda jerk, and, in another episode, works as a delivery boy at the grocery store. He also plays in a rock band with his friends and has a paying gig at a teen party. In a later color episode, Opie makes college plans with dentistry as his career choice.

Opie's mother

Opie's mother is mentioned only once in the series. In "Wedding Bells for Aunt Bee", Andy tells Opie he had a love for the boy's mother similar to the love Aunt Bee feels for her beau. Other than this one mention, Opie's mother is non-existent on the show. There are no photographs of her in the house, or other souvenirs, and no one mentions a grave. She apparently has no relatives in Mayberry such as parents or siblings as Opie never mentions grandparents or aunts and uncles except those on his paternal side. In the backdoor pilot episode from The Danny Thomas Show, viewers learn Andy lost Opie's mother when the boy was "the least little speck of a baby."

Reunion telemovie (1986)

In the 1986 made-for-TV reunion movie Return to Mayberry, Ron Howard reprised his role as a now-adult Opie. The plot was driven by his father's return to see Opie's wife give birth to their first child.

Almost Famous

In Cameron Crowe's 2000 semi-autobiographical picture Almost Famous, several characters within the movie, mainly the band aid Saphire, frequently refer to the protagonist, William, as Opie. (Most memorably exlaiming "Opie must die" when three band aids conspire to volunteer to take William's virginity.) This can be attributed to the real life physical similarity between the character Opie and actor Patrick Fugit.

References

• The Andy Griffith Show: Complete Series Collection. Paramount, 2007. (ISBN 1415731594).
• Beck, Ken. The Andy Griffith Show Book. St. Martin's Griffin.