Andy Griffith (1926-2012): Mayberry's Finest

N_79_1_10 Andy Griffith (Photo credit: State Archives of North Carolina)

On Monday nights in the 1960s, viewers gathered in front of their TVs to watch the adventures of Sheriff Andy Taylor, enforcing law and order in the small North Carolina town of Mayberry.  Unlike the rest of America at that time, Mayberry had almost no crime, and the stories were mostly about Taylor's relationship with the townsfolk and his family.

It was called "The Andy Griffith Show", which began as a spinoff from "The Danny Thomas Show".  It ran on CBS from 1960-68, and continues to be popular in reruns today.  Tuesday, the show's star and namesake died in his North Carolina home at age 86.

"The Andy Griffith Show" created so many other memorable characters besides Sheriff Taylor.  There was Barney Fife (played by Don Knotts), Gomer Pyle (who moved on to his own show), Goober (played by George Lindsey, who died recently) and Aunt Bea, just to name a few.  Taylor's son Opie was played by Ron Howard, who is now an Oscar-winning movie director.

(To those who complained that "The Andy Griffith Show" should have had blacks in the cast, they need to be reminded that the 1960s were a racially sensitive time.  Appalling as it sounds, if there was so much as one African-American face in Mayberry, CBS would have lost sponsors and stations in the South over this.)

Before Griffith hit it big on TV, he began his career in the 1950s as a standup comedian.  Then he had a starring role on Broadway and in the movies in "No Time For Sergeants".  In 1957, Griffith turned to drama as a country bumpkin-turned-power mad TV star in the film "A Face In The Crowd".  This is a role that's as far away from Andy Taylor as you're going to get.  Watch this movie the next time TCM shows it.

Griffith had one more TV success after his Mayberry days ended, and that was as a crusading attorney in the "Perry Mason" mode named Ben Matlock.  "Matlock" ran for nearly a decade (1986-95) on NBC and ABC.

For eight seasons on TV, Mayberry was this mythical nirvana of small-town values populated by down-to earth citizens.  Andy Griffith made this come alive.  And if you listen closely, you could still hear Sheriff Taylor whistling a tune as he takes Opie fishing.