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Andy Griffith
Age: 83
Height: 6'
Birth Place: Mount Airy, North Carolina, USA
Born: Jun. 1st, 1926
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Andy Griffith's Main TV Roles
NOTE: Complete List of Works can be found at
IMDB
BIOGRAPHY: Andy Griffith is best known for his starring roles in two very popular TV series, "The Andy Griffith Show" (1960) and "Matlock" (1986).
Griffith earned a degree in music from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In the 1950s he became a regular on the Ed Sullivan Show and the Steve Allen Show. He was featured in the Broadway play "No Time for Sergeants" (1955) for which he received a Tony nomination, and he later appeared in the film version. His film debut was in the provocative and prophetic A Face in the Crowd (1957), in which Griffith gave a performance that has been described as stunning.
On "The Andy Griffith Show" (1960), Griffith portrayed a folksy small-town sheriff who shared simple heartfelt wisdom. The show was one of the most popular TV series in history. It generated some successful spin-offs, and the original is still seen in re-runs to this day.
Griffith created his own production company in 1972, which produced several movies and TV series. In 1981, he was nominated for an Emmy for his portrayal in Murder in Texas (1981) (TV). In 1983 Griffith was stricken with Guillain-Barre syndrome, but he recovered after rehabilitation.
In 1986 he produced and starred in the very successful TV series "Matlock" (1986). The show spawned numerous TV movies as well. When he accepted the People's Choice Award for this show, he said this was his favorite role.
TRIVIA:
- Was on same stage with 'Elvis Presley' (qv) in _"The Steve Allen Show" (1956)_ (qv).
- He and 'Marilyn Monroe' (qv) were born on the same day, June 1, 1926.
- While attending high school, he looked up Ed Mickey, who was a minister at Grace Moravian Church, who was also a brass bandleader, who taught Griffith how to play the trombone.
- Best known by the public for his starring roles as Andy Taylor in _"The Andy Griffith Show" (1960)_ (qv) and the title character in _"Matlock" (1986)_ (qv).
- During a 1959 performance of the Broadway musical "Destry Rides Again", in which Griffith starred opposite 'Dolores Gray' (qv), a small fire broke out backstage at the Imperial Theater. Although it was put out within a few minutes time, without causing any major damage, just enough smoke drifted toward the stage that there could have been a panic had not Griffith and Gray continued on with the scene as though nothing was happening. For their bravery, they were rewarded by the audience that night with a standing ovation and by the New York City Fire Comissioner with citations for heroism.
- Has a long association with ex-_"The Andy Griffith Show" (1960)_ (qv) co-star, 'Ron Howard (I)' (qv), before and after the show's cancellation. Howard guest-starred on an episode of Griffith's short-lived series, _"The Headmaster" (1970)_ (qv) in 1970, and he hosted _"Saturday Night Live" (1975)_ (qv) in 1982, when Andy made a surprised appearance as Andy Taylor.
- The town of Mayberry on "The Andy Griffith Show" is based upon Andy Griffith's hometown of Mt. Airy, North Carolina. By the same token, the characters on the show will commonly mention the "sister city" of "Mount Pilot". Mount Pilot does exist, though it's really called Pilot Mountain, and has the same basic geographical positioning to Mt. Airy as Mayberry does to Mount Pilot. The towns in both reality and the series are about 15 miles apart. Both towns (in both universes) are north of Winston-Salem, North Carolina near the North Carolina-Virginia border.
- His ex-_"The Andy Griffith Show" (1960)_ (qv), co-star's, 'Ron Howard (I)' (qv)'s mother, 'Jean Speegle Howard' (qv), guest-starred on an episode of Griffith's second long-running show, _"Matlock" (1986)_ (qv), in 1987.
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