Andy was always content playing his father role and “straight man” to all the comedic characters on the show. His friend, Don Knotts, won multiple Emmy Awards for his comedy role on the show, but Andy was never even nominated. Interestingly, Andy never received a writing credit for the show, even though he worked on the development of every script. I do not know of a TV series today that demonstrates family values the way this series did. It was a family-values show that appealed to all ages. The A ndy Griffith Show ran for eight years and today, a viewer can usually find a re-run somewhere on TV on almost any day. Knotts, Andy’s best friend, had also starred in the Broadway production of “No Time for Sergeants.” Ron Howard (director and producer in Hollywood today) was Andy’s only TV child, Opie Taylor. Sheriff Andy Taylor took care of all the crime and other happenings in Mayberry, along with his deputy, Barney Fife, played by Don Knotts. Then in 1960, The Andy Griffith Show began on CBS Television, and I was hooked. I was already a fan of Andy’s from his record in 1953, “What it Was, Was Football.” He pretended to be an “old country boy” trying to figure out what was going on in the first football game he had ever seen. Professor Spence did not let us forget his friend and classmate, Andy Griffith. Then in 1957, Andy starred in the film, “A Face in the Crowd” with Patricia Neal, Walter Matthau, and Lee Remick. Andy had already made it to television in 1955 in a one-act play, “No Time for Sergeants” and in October, the play had made it to Broadway in New York City. In 1958, Professor Spence was convinced that his friend Andy Griffith was going to be a star in film and the theatre. My public speaking professor at Lenoir-Rhyne College, George Spence, had worked with Andy in The Lost Colony and attended UNC at Chapel Hill with him. He participated in the school drama program and learned to sing and play the trombone in church.Īfter high school, Andy was offered a role in Paul Green’s The Lost Colony, being performed on Roanoke Island, and was a cast member for several years. The young boy grew up listening to gospel music, and then in high school he found out he could make people laugh.
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