But none other than Ed Sullivan took a shine to Griffith’s monologues and gave him a break on his television show. More than 800,000 albums were sold.Īn attempt to break into legit show business in New York proved frustrating, and Griffith soon went back to performing in North Carolina. It was while performing as that preacher at a convention in 1953 that he recorded “What It Was, Was Football,” the comic first impressions of a sport the clergyman had never seen. He and his first wife, Barbara Edwards, put together an act in which Griffith played a preacher. of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, he decided to change his major to music.Īfter graduating in 1949, he taught high school English for a few years while performing in his free time. He spoke to small towns, to big cities and everything in between he spoke a universal language.”Īndrew Samuel Griffith was born in Mount Airy, N.C. … It wasn’t just Andy’s rural background but his understanding of the frailties and foibles of our lives. Directing that show was a joy from beginning to end. … (Exec producer) Sheldon Leonard and Andy wanted to infuse the show with values of decency, optimism, order and Americana while still depicting people’s foibles and pettiness.”ĭirector-producer Jeffrey Hayden, who helmed episodes of “The Andy Griffith Show,” echoed those sentiments, calling Griffith “far and away one of the most talented, sweetest actors I worked with over many years in episodic television. (Griffith) didn’t want to take that direction. “Other shows that depicted the South at the time … played up their characters as bumpkins. Howard, speaking to Variety in a 2010 article commemorating the show’s 50th anni, talked about Griffith’s approach to the skein. Reruns still air on TV Land, which ran a marathon of “The Andy Griffith Show” on Wednesday in memory of the star. The series, with its signature whistling theme song, ran for 249 episodes, going from B&W to color. ![]() The comedy idealized rural America in the same way that “Father Knows Best” and “Leave It to Beaver” did suburbia, and it set a tone for TV comedies to this day. Griffith’s character was the stable element around which a crew of quirky characters revolved, including Don Knotts’ zany deputy Barney Fife. In the skein, Griffith played a widower and single father to young son Opie (played by Ron Howard).
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