Andy Griffith

At 86 years old, Andy Griffith has this physical status:

Andy Samuel Griffith (June 1, 1926 – July 3, 2012) was an American actor, comedian, television producer, Southern Gospel singer, and writer whose career spanned seven decades in music and television.

Griffith, known for his southern drawl, his characters with a gruff, gregarious voice, and his starring role in director Elia Kazan's film A Face in the Crowd (1957) and Ben Matlock's legal drama Matlock (1986-1996), is a film that was shot in a television version.

Early life and education

Griffith was born on June 1, 1926, in Mount Airy, North Carolina, and was the only child of Carl Lee Griffith and his wife, Geneva (née Nunn). Griffith lived with relatives until his parents could afford to buy a house. He slept in dresser drawers for several months, having neither a crib nor a bed. In 1929, when Griffith was three, his father started working as a helper or carpenter and bought a house on Mount Airy's "blue-collar" south side. Griffith aspired to music as a child. He was already aware that he was on the "wrong side of the tracks" by the time he entered school. He was a shy kid, but once he discovered a way to make his peers laugh, he began to laugh out of his shell and into his own.

Griffith, a student at Mount Airy High School, piqued an interest in the arts, as well as being an active participant in the school's drama program. A growing passion for music, particularly swing, could make his life a different place. Griffith was raised Baptist and looked up to Ed Mickey, a minister at Grace Moravian Church who supervised the brass band and taught him to sing and play the trombone. Mickey nurtured Griffith's talent from childhood to graduation in 1944. Griffith was ecstatic when he was given a role in The Lost Colony by Paul Green, a play about Roanoke Island that is still on display today. He appeared as a cast member of the play for several years, playing a variety of roles until he finally found Sir Walter Raleigh, who is the capital of North Carolina.

He attended the University of North Carolina (UNC) in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in 1949. He began training to be a Moravian preacher, but he switched to music and became a member of the school's Carolina Playmakers. He was president of the UNC chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, America's oldest fraternity for men in music, at UNC. He appeared in several student operettas, including The Chimes of Normandy (1946), and Gilbert and Sullivan's The Gondoliers (1945), The Mikado (1948) and H.M.S. Pinafore (1949) is a historian from the United States. He taught music and drama at Goldsboro High School in Goldsboro, North Carolina, where he taught, including others, Carl Kasell. He also started to write.

Personal life

Griffith was initiated as a member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, a national social music fraternity for males, in 1945, while a student at the University of North Carolina.

Griffith and Barbara Bray Edwards married on August 22, 1949, and they had two children, Andy Samuel Griffith Jr. (born in 1957 and better known as Sam Griffith) and Dixie Nann Griffith. In 1972, the couple divorced. Sam, a residential real estate developer, died in 1996 after years of alcoholism. Solica Cassuto, a Greek actress, was the senior Griffith's second wife. They were married from 1973 to 1981. Griffith and Cindi Knight married in Coweta County on April 12, 1983, after they met when he was filming Murder in Coweta County.

Aneta Corsaut and Griffith had an affair when Griffith was married and on The Andy Griffith Show, according to Andy & Don: The Making of a Friendship and a Classic American TV show.

Griffith's first serious health issue came in April 1983, when he was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome and could not walk for seven months as a result of knee pain.

He underwent quadruple heart-bypass surgery at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia, on May 9, 2000.

Griffith underwent hip surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on September 5, 2007.

Griffith died in Manteo, North Carolina, on July 3, 2012, from a heart attack the day before; he was 86. Hypertension, coronary artery disease, and hyperlipidemia were among the primary health disorders outlined in his death certificate. No services were held at the time, and he was buried at the family cemetery on the island within five hours of his death, according to previous arrangements.

Source

Career

Griffith's early career was as a monologist, delivering long stories such as "It Was Football," which is told from the viewpoint of a young country preacher trying to figure out what was going on in a football game. On the Colonial Records label in 1953, the monologue was released as a single and was a hit for Griffith, with the record reaching number nine on the charts in 1954.

Griffith appeared in Ira Levin's one-hour teleplay, No Time for Sergeants (March 1955), a tale about a country boy in the United States Air Force, based on The United States Steel Hour, a television anthology series. He performed in Ira Levin's full-length dramatic version of the same name on Broadway in New York City (October 1955). At the 1956 Tony Awards, his role earned him a "Distinguished Supporting or Featured Dramatic Actor" nomination, losing to Ed Begley. He did win the 1956 Theatre World Award, but it was not awarded to debut on Broadway. In The New York Times, "Mr. Griffith does not have to condescend to Will Stockdale" (his participation in the film). "All he has to do is walk on stage and look straight in the audience." If the armed forces are unable to cope with Will Stockdale, how will the audience be able to resist Andy Griffith?"

Griffith reprised his role in No Time for Sergeants (1958), which also featured Don Knotts as a soldier in charge of manual-dexterity investigations, establishing the start of a lifelong friendship between Griffith and Knotts. Time for Sergeants is considered the direct inspiration for the late television situation comedy Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., No Time for Sergeants. This is a spin-off of The Andy Griffith Show.

He appeared in the 1959 film Destry Rides Again, co-starring Dolores Gray. It was his first appearance on stage in New York. The show, based on Harold Rome's score, lasted for 472 performances and more than a year. At the 1960 Tony Awards, Griffith was nominated for "Distinguished Musical Actor," losing to Jackie Gleason. In the 1960 film Onionhead (1958), he also portrayed a US Coast Guard sailor. It was neither a critical nor a commercial success.

Griffith made his film debut in the film A Face in the Crowd, 1957. He plays a "country boy" who is manipulative and starvation-hungry: a drifter who becomes a television presenter and uses his show as a portal to political power. Budd Schulberg and co-stars Patricia Neal, Walter Matthau, Tony Franciosa, and Lee Remick wrote the film (in her debut film).

A Face in the Crowd reissued on DVD includes a mini-documentary on the film, as well as remarks from Schulberg and cast members Griffith, Franciosa, and Neal. Griffith recalls Kazan's invitation to shoot his first scene with Remick's teenage baton twirler, who captures Griffith's character on a trip to Arkansas. Griffith also stated that the film was more popular in recent decades than it was when it was first released.

In 1955, Griffith's first appearance on television was on The United States Steel Hour, a one-hour teleplay of No Time for Sergeants. That was the first of two appearances on the program. In an episode of Make Room for Daddy starring Danny Thomas, Griffith appeared as a county sheriff, as a justice of the peace, and the editor of the local newspaper. Thomas' character is banned from running a stop sign in a tiny town in this episode, and he was used as a backdoor pilot for The Andy Griffith Show. Sheldon Leonard created both shows.

Griffith appeared in The Andy Griffith Show on CBS television network beginning in September 1960. The performance took place in Mayberry, North Carolina, where Taylor, a widower, was the sheriff and town sage. The film was shot at Desilu Studios, with exteriors filmed at Forty Acres in Culver City, California.

Don Knotts, Griffith's longtime friend, and Taylor's best friend and comedian, starred in the role of Deputy Barney Fife, Taylor's best friend and comedy buddy from 1960 to 1965. He was also Taylor's cousin on the show at first, but the family later broke the aunt-and-a-kind friendship and talked about knowing one another since infanthood. Fife calls Taylor "Cousin Andy" in the series's first episode, while Taylor says Fife "Cousin Barney." Ron Howard (then known as Ronny Howard), who played Taylor's only child, Opie Taylor, appeared on the program. It was an immediate threat. Griffith never received a writing award for the series, but he did write every script. Knotts was often praised and won multiple Emmy Awards for his comedic appearances, as did Frances Bavier in 1967, but Griffith was never nominated for an Emmy Award during the show's tenure.

Griffith was under contract with CBS in 1967 to do one more season of the program. However, he left the show to pursue a film career and other ventures. Ken Berry's role as a widower farmer and several of the regular characters recurring, some as guest stars, as Mayberry R.F.D. Griffith starred in five episodes (the pilot episode involved his marriage to Helen Crump) and spent one week to review the week's scripts and give input). Taylor appeared in the 1986 reunion television film Return to Mayberry starring Don Knotts and co-star Don Knotts. In 1993 and 2003, two reunion specials were produced, with high ratings.

Griffith appeared in less-successful television series such as Headmaster (1968), Adams of Eagle Lake (1979), and The Yeagers (1980), after leaving his still popular show in 1968 and founding Andy Griffith Enterprises in 1972. Griffith returned to television as the title character in the legal drama Matlock (1986–1995) on NBC and ABC, after seven months in recovery for leg paralysis in 1980. Matlock, a country advocate in Atlanta, Georgia, was known for his Southern drawl and for always winning his cases. Matlock also starred unknown, struggling actors (both of whom were childhood friends of Andy Griffith) Nancy Stafford as Michelle Thomas (1987-1992) and Clarence Gilyard, Jr. (1989–1993). On Tuesday nights, it was a ratings powerhouse at the end of its first season. Although Griffith was nominated for four Emmy Awards, the program was never nominated. He did, however, win a People's Choice Award in 1987 for his work as Matlock.

During the years on Playhouse 90, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M., The Mod Squad, Hawaii Five-O, The Doris Day Exhibition, among others, Lucy, The Bionic Woman, and Fantasy Island were among others. He reprised his role as Ben Matlock on Diagnosis: Murder in 1997, and his last guest-starring role was in 2001 in a Dawson's Creek episode.

Griffith appeared or appeared in many television films, including The Strangers In 7A (1972), Go Ask Alice (1973), and Pray for the Wildcats (1974), his first villainous role since A Face in the Crowd. In Savages (1974), a television film based on Robb White's book Deathwatch (1972), Griffith appeared again as a villain. In a 1976 PBS television version of Luigi Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author, he appeared as The Father, directed by Stacy Keach. Griffith received his first Primetime Emmy Award nomination for his role as the father of a murder victim in the television film Murder in Texas (1981), co-starring music legend Johnny Cash as the sheriff, and he earned further acclaim for his role as a homicidal villain in the television film Murder in Coweta County (1983). He appeared in many television miniseries, including the television version of From Here to Eternity (1979), Centennial (1978), and Washington, The Next Generation (1979), which was loosely based on Lyndon B. Johnson.

Griffith starred in the majority of the television films, which also attempted to launch a new one. Winter Kill (1974) produced the short-lived Adams of Eagle Lake, which was cancelled in 1975 after just two episodes. He appeared in Street Killing, New York City's office, a year later, but the DA's office also didn't have a new show. Griffith attempted to debut The Girl in the Empty Grave and Deadly Game, a more hardedged version of Andy Taylor, in 1977, despite good sales, both attempts to produce a new television series.

Griffith appeared in two feature films during this period, neither of which were successful at the box office. He co-starred Jeff Bridges as a crusty old western actor in the film Hearts of the West (1975), and in the Western comedy parody spoof Rustlers' Rhapsody (1985), he appeared alongside Tom Berenger as a gay bourgeois baron and cattle baron.

Griffith continued to appear in many hit series, including Hotel, Fantasy Island, where he played a fictional version of western figure Judge Roy Bean in an aspiring singer's fantasy and an episode of The Love Boat, which featured a memorable appearance by pop star Andy Warhol. He appeared as an advocate in the NBC miniseries Fatal Vision (1984), which is considered a precursor to his appearance in Matlock.

Griffith stunned many people unfamiliar with his A Face in the Crowd's (1985) film in which he played a cruel and vindictive judge who routinely sentenced juveniles to lengthy and tortured probation. Griffith's character in Under the Influence (1986), a television film in which Griffith played an alcoholic, violent patriarch, was also notable in Griffith's later roles. In the 1995 film Gramps (1995) co-starring John Ritter, he delighted audiences with his appearance as a volatile and mystery grandfather. In the spy film spoof Spy Hard (1996) starring Leslie Nielsen, he also appeared as a comedic villain. Griffith appeared in the television film A Holiday Romance (1999), as Jake Peterson. Griffith portrayed the patriarch of a dysfunctional southern family in the film Daddy and Them (2001).

Griffith portrays a clumsy diner owner who plays Keri Russell in the film Waitress (2007). After a 60-year absence, his last appearance was the leading role in the romantic comedy, independent film Play the Game (2009) as a lonely, widowed grandfather re-entering the dating world. Rance Howard, Ron Howard's true-life father, who appeared on various supporting roles on The Andy Griffith Exhibition, and Clint Howard, Ron Howard's younger brother, who appeared on The Andy Griffith Show (the kid offering the ice cream cone or peanut butter sandwich) were also present on the panel.

Griffith appeared in several of his film appearances, most prominently in A Face in the Crowd and several episodes of Both The Andy Griffith Show and Matlock. During The Andy Griffith Show, he produced an album of upbeat country and gospel tunes, including a version of the show's theme sung by Griffith under the name "The Fishin' Hole." He has released several hit albums of classic Christian hymns for Sparrow Records in recent years. The RIAA's most popular product, I Love to Tell the Story, was released in 1996. At the 1997 Grammy Awards for Best Southern, Country, Or Bluegrass Gospel Album, the album was nominated for Best Southern, Country, or Bluegrass Gospel Album.

Griffith appeared in Brad Paisley's "Waitin' on a Woman" (2008).

In November 2006, William Harold Fenrick of Platteville, Wisconsin, legally changed his name to Andrew Jackson Griffith and ran unsuccessfully for sheriff of Grant County. Griffith/Fenrick also filed a lawsuit, claiming he registered copyright and privacy by changing his name for the "sole purpose of obtaining votes." Griffith/Fenrick did not breach federal trademark law because he did not use the Griffith name in a commercial transaction but rather, seek a legitimate office with a fundamental First Amendment protected speech, as shown by US District Court Judge John C. Shabaz on May 4, 2007.

Source

Awards and honors

• Television Hall of Fame inductee (class of 1991)
• Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
• Andy Griffith Museum—a 2,500-square-foot facility which houses the world's largest collection of Griffith memorabilia—opened on September 26, 2009, in Mount Airy, North Carolina
• Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album for I Love to Tell the Story – 25 Timeless Hymns in 1997
• Grammy Award nominations for Best Comedy Album (Hamlet in 1960) and Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album (Just As I Am in 1999)
• Country Gospel Music Hall of Fame inductee (class of 1999)
• A 11-mile (18 km) stretch of US Highway 52 that passes through Mount Airy rededicated as the Andy Griffith Parkway
• Statue of Griffith and Ron Howard (as Andy and Opie) constructed in Pullen Park in Raleigh, North Carolina
• A second statue was later erected in Andy Griffith's hometown of Mount Airy of Andy and Opie outside the Andy Griffith museum.
• Andy Griffith signature model guitar commissioned by C.F. Martin & Company
• Presidential Medal of Freedom (2005)
• Christian Music Hall of Fame inductee (class of 2007)
• North Carolina Music Hall of Fame inductee (class of 2010)