ANDY GRIFFITH

June 1, 1926 – July 3, 2012

Andy Samuel Griffith was born in Mount Airy, North Carolina, and enjoyed a career that spanned seven decades in music and television. Known for his southern drawl, his characters with a folksy-friendly personality, and his gruff but friendly voice, Griffith was a two-time Tony nominee and gained prominence in the starring role in the film A Face in the Crowd (1957) before he became better known for his television roles, playing Sheriff Andy Taylor in the sitcom “The Andy Griffith Show” (1960–68) and Ben Matlock in the legal drama “Matlock” (1986–95). 

Griffith was married three times, adopting two children with his third wife Barbara. 

During December 1960, Andy Griffith and Lucille Ball were both starring on Broadway in new musicals: Andy in Destry Rides Again and Lucy in Wildcat. The pair were a mere three blocks away singing and dancing eight times a week. Although Griffith earned a Tony nomination for his work, Ball had to leave the show due to exhaustion, which caused the musical to close. Both returned to Hollywood to star in their own television series’. 

Griffith was well-known to Lucille Ball as his show was filmed by her company, Desilu on their backlot. Many actors appeared in Mayberry and on Lucycoms:

Don Knotts (Barney Fife) in

“Lucy Goes on Her Last Blind Date” (HL S5;E6). 

Keith Thibodeaux, who played Lucy Ricardo’s son, Little Ricky, played Opie’s (Ron Howard) pal Johnny Paul Jason in 13 episodes between 1962 and 1966. 

Before playing Floyd the Barber, Howard McNear played Little Ricky’s music teacher Mr. Crawford in “Little Ricky Gets Stage Fright” (ILL S6;E4). He was also seen in Lucy and Desi’s 1953 film The Long, Long Trailer.

Hal Smith (Otis the Drunk) appeared with Lucille Ball in the 1963 film Critic’s Choice and made three appearances on “The Lucy Show” and one of “Here’s Lucy.” 

Before he joined showed up in Mayberry as handman Emmett Clark, Paul Hartman played Mr. Wilbur in “Lucy is a Soda Jerk” (TLS S1;E23) in 1963. Hartman appeared in 16 episodes of “The Andy Griffith Show” and 62 episodes of “Mayberry RFD” even reprising the role once in “The New Andy Griffith Show.”

Coincidentally, in “Ricky Needs an Agent” (ILL S4;E29) actors Parley Baer and Helen Kleeb share an MGM office scene as Mr. Reilly and his Secretary, then later are re-teamed on a 1962 episode of “The Andy Griffith Show” as Mayor Stoner and Mrs. Morgan. 

Others who did double duty include: Dick Elliott (Mayor Pike), Bert Mustin (Jud Fletcher), Olan Soule (John Masters), Mabel Albertson (Mrs. Sprague), Will Wright (Ben Weaver), J

onathan Hole (Orville Monroe), as well as Norman Leavitt, Amzie Strickland, Dub Taylor, Stanley Farrar, Barbara Perry, Will Wright, Herbie Faye, Mary Treen, Byron Foulger, Tol Avery, Reta Shaw, Lurene Tuttle, Ruth McDevitt, Ruta Lee, Jay Novello, Ross Elliot, Maxine Semon, Herb Vigran, and Sid Melton. 

People weren’t the only thing shared at Desilu. This landscape print on the Ricardo’s wall later turns up in the home of Andy Taylor.

Sometimes there was a visual hint at who really owned the town of Mayberry in scenes set at the town newsstand! 

Ball and Griffith first appeared on the same TV show in 1963’s “General Foods Opening Night”, which was a promotion for the CBS fall season based around a new series starring Phil Silvers as inventor Harry Grafton. The stars of the other series’ like Lucille Ball (”The Lucy Show”) and Griffith (”The Andy Griffith Show”) band together to discourage their competition. Danny Thomas and Jack Benny joined in the fun. 

In March 1965, Lucille Ball interviewed Andy Griffith for two installments of her CBS radio show “Let’s Talk To Lucy” while he was still playing Sheriff Andy Taylor on TV.  

In 1965, Andy, Lucy, and Danny Thomas were CBS’s top performers – the three musketeers! 

The same year Ball remodeled her sitcom “The Lucy Show” into “Here’s Lucy”, “The Andy Griffith Show” was morphed into “Mayberry RFD” (1968-69) when Sheriff Taylor got married and left town.Griffith still made five appearances on the show, which now starred by Ken Berry. 

Barney Fife and Goober Pyle paid a visit to Andy on “The New Andy Griffith Show”, although Andy Griffith was now named Andy Sawyer, family man and mayor of a sleepy southern town. The series ran just 10 episodes in 1971. 

He played Andy Taylor in “Return To Mayberry”, a 1996 TV film as well as briefly in a 1982 episode of “Saturday Night Live” with Ron Howard and the 2008 video short “Ron Howard’s Call To Action.” 

Ball and Griffith did a pantomime sketch together on “The Tennessee Ernie Ford Special” on November 22, 1968, the first new television season after the end of “The Andy Griffith Show.”  Lucy had just begun the first season of her new show, “Here’s Lucy,” while Griffith was no longer regularly working. The sketch found the two trying to cope with making breakfast in the tight confines of a trailer home. 

Ball and Griffith both turned up a month later in brief cameos on “The Dean Martin Christmas Special” (December 19, 1968) to announce that toys were being sent to children nationwide. Griffith says that “his friend Barney Fife” has secured an escort for Santa to deliver toys to the Ethel Harps Home for Children in Cedartown, Georgia. Ball announces a donation to City of Hope Medical Center in Duarte, California. 

On October 29, 1973, Griffith finally appeared on one of Lucille Ball’s sitcoms. In “Lucy and Andy Griffith” (HL S6;E8), the final season of the series, Griffith played Andy Johnson, a charismatic youth counselor who Lucy Carter suspects to be a fraud. The role allows him to act and sing. 

For all Griffith’s star power, this is an unusual and awkward episode. The chemistry between Andy and Lucy is given short shrift in favor of Kim’s (Lucie Arnaz) suspicions about his veracity. When she allows Andy (an older, single man from out of town) to bring her to his run-down motel room things just get uncomfortable. There’s also an undertone of religion (gospel songs, mentions of ‘the Lord’), something that Lucy avoided throughout her television career. The only exception to this unpleasantness is the brief scene where Lucy schools Andy in how to relax on television. This must have been something that Lucille Ball did when coaching young actors as part of the Desilu Playhouse. There are so many ways Andy Griffith could have been used on “Here’s Lucy,” but this seems the least satisfactory showcase for his talents.  

Five years later (March 1978), CBS marked its 50th Anniversary with a week of programs called “CBS: On the Air.”  Representing Monday nights were Lucille Ball and Andy Griffith. Vivian Vance, Don Knotts, and Ken Berry also participated. 

The last time Ball and Griffith shared the same TV screen was for the “33rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards” on September 13, 1981. Lucille Ball was both a presenter and an honoree for her 30 years in television. This is the only time this year Ball appeared on TV. Griffith (above with wife Barbara) was a nominee for his work in the TV film “Murder in Texas”. He lost to David Warner in “Masada.” 

Six Degrees of Lucy! 

Although none of Lucille Ball’s TV incarnations ever came face to face with Sheriff Andy Taylor, they traveled in the same TV world:

• In 1959, the year before Danny Williams (Danny Thomas) met Sheriff Andy Taylor on “Make Room for Daddy”, Danny Williams and family met Lucy Ricardo and family on a 1958 episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.”  

• Gomer Pyle (Jim Nabors), who lived in Mayberry, joined the Marines and was spun off in his own series “Gomer Pyle USMC” when he made a brief appearance on “The Lucy Show” in 1966.  

• “The Andy Griffith Show” had a sequel series titled “Mayberry RFD” starring Ken Berry, a protege of Lucille Ball’s who had appeared on “The Lucy Show” in 1968.  

Coincidentally, both Ball and Griffith returned to series TV in fall 1986 and made the cover of TV Guide. “Life With Lucy” was canceled after just eight episodes. “Matlock”, however, ran until 1995 racking up more than 180 episodes. 

His final screen appearance was in Play the Game (2009) in which he played a grandfather. He appeared alongside Rance and Clint Howard, the father and brother of Ron Howard, his co-star on “The Andy Griffith Show” (1960).

Griffith died on July 3, 2012 from a heart attack at the age of 86 at his home in Roanoke Island, North Carolina.

The same day Andy Griffith was born in 1926, another Hollywood icon with connections to Lucille Ball was also born, Marilyn Monroe.  To read his birthday blog, click here!