Andy Griffith

NOTE: This is a 2007 story from The Baltimore Sun's archives. Andy Griffith, 81 a week from tomorrow, confides that "when my wife, Cindy, and I go someplace, and I don't want to be recognized, she says, 'Don't talk!'" Hearing him boom across the phone lines from his hometown of Manteo, N.C., you know what she means. Griffith's weathered face has been part of America's pop-culture Mount Rushmore for half-a-century, whether as Mayberry's comic philosopher of a sheriff or the wily cornpone lawyer Matlock.

Andy Griffith, one of the stars who put CBS on top of the TV world in the 1960s with an easy-going but culturally-packed sitcom that ran for eight seasons during that stormy decade in American life, died Tuesday at 86 at his North Carolina home in Roanoke Island. Like Fred MacMurry, whose range ran from the feature film  "Double Indemnity"  to TV's "My Three Sons," Griffith was far more than just another TV actor from the early days of the medium. Before TV and Sheriff Andy Taylor, he was Lonesome Rhodes in Elia Kazan's "A Face in the Crowd," And he found renewed TV fame in the 1980s and '90s as Harvard-educated attorney Ben Matlock.

Andy Griffith, one of the stars who put CBS on top of the TV world in the 1960s with an easy-going but culturally-packed sitcom that ran for eight seasons during that stormy decade in American life, died Tuesday at 86 at his North Carolina home in Roanoke Island. Like Fred MacMurry, whose range ran from the feature film  "Double Indemnity"  to TV's "My Three Sons," Griffith was far more than just another TV actor from the early days of the medium. Before TV and Sheriff Andy Taylor, he was Lonesome Rhodes in Elia Kazan's "A Face in the Crowd," And he found renewed TV fame in the 1980s and '90s as Harvard-educated attorney Ben Matlock.

No matter what your age or physical condition, you might feel like calling Dr. Jack Kevorkian after watching "Play the Game," a feeble comedy about a slick car salesman (Paul Campbell) and his attempt to push his endearing widowed grandfather (Andy Griffith) back into the dating scene. Grandpa Joe is alternately sly and out of it, until he becomes the "wild stallion" of his retirement village with the help of a genie in a bottle labeled Viagra. (His key love interests are played by Jerry Seinfeld's mom in "Seinfeld," Liz Sheridan, and Ray Romano's mom in "Everybody Loves Raymond," Doris Roberts.

If you think the hottest-selling set of bubble-gum cards is the '90 Topps baseball set, guess again. The barn burner in the card world is the very unlikely set of cards from the old "Andy Griffith Show," the '60s sitcom now seen on Nickelodeon and other cable networks, and the No. 1 card is Sheriff Andy Taylor himself.The Pacific Trading Card Co. of Lyndale, Wash., can't begin to fill orders for the "Andy Griffith Show" card sets. They are selling better than 300 sets a day from coast to coast, with a heavy concentration in the South, and there is no sign of a slowdown.

It's a night of oldies -- or at least new oldies. "Flipper" has a new show, Oliver North re-surfaces in a fictional role, and Andy Griffith and the Mayberry gang are featured in a cable marathon.* "Flipper" (5 p.m.-6 p.m., WBFF, Channel 45) -- The dynamic dolphin's back! Of course, the aquatic mammal playing the part is new, and so are the humans. But this syndicated show is a new version of the 1964-1967 series about a Florida Keys family.* "Nova: What's New About Menopause" (6 p.m.-7 p.m., MPT, Channels 22, 67)

What do Jim Clark and ''The Andy Griffith Show'' have in common? They were both born in 1960 and they both hold a soft spot in the hearts of fans nationwide.For Clark, the story begins in 1979 at Vanderbilt University where shared a love of the show with three Phi Kappa Sigma fraternity brothers. There was one television set in the frat house, and the Griffith show aired against "M*A*S*H.""In order to get dibs on the TV set," Clark says, "one of us had to be there to claim it for 'The Andy Griffith Show.

HOLLYWOOD -- Don Knotts, the saucer-eyed, scarecrow-thin comic actor best known for his roles as the high-strung, small-town deputy Barney Fife on the 1960s CBS series The Andy Griffith Show and the leisure-suit-clad landlord Ralph Furley on ABC's '70s sitcom Three's Company, has died. He was 81. Mr. Knotts, who lived in West Los Angeles, died Friday night of lung cancer at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, according to Sherwin Bash, his longtime manager. Family members said that his longtime friend Mr. Griffith was one of his last visitors.

In Mount Airy, N.C., Andy Griffith's boyhood slingshot is kept under glass, along with a suit he wore on television, several of his old comedy records, and a wrapper from an authentic Andy Griffith Whole Hog Sausage.This Southern speck of a city is the actor's birthplace -- and the inspiration for his enduring creation, the friendly TV town of Mayberry, home to Aunt Bee, Barney, and Floyd the barber.But if you want to linger over the mementos at the Andy Griffith Museum, pick some time other than September.

MOUNT AIRY, N.C. - Doug Reeves parked his station wagon at the meterless curb on Main Street, leaving it open and unlocked - you can do that here - and walked through the door of Floyd's Barber Shop. There, like an old black and white television rerun come to life, the customers looked up, put down their magazines and joined in friendly banter: How's the family ... Good to see ya ... Yer lookin' well ... Thank you, kindly. Back home after eight years in Nashville, Tenn., Reeves wasn't looking to get his well-moussed silvery mane touched up; nor was he looking for Floyd the barber - for he knows no Floyd exists.

It is quite possible I've turned into that most dreaded of entertainment consumers: the movietalker. I first became aware of the movietalker years ago while watching TV after dinner with my family, including my Grandma Fricke, the Grande Dame of movietalkers. We were watching Matlock, which, for those of you unfamiliar with classic TV, was an early mystery/courtroom drama; a precursor to CSI only without the kinky deaths and creepy characters. Matlock was the Little House on the Prairie of crime-solving shows, featuring the wholesome Andy Griffith.

Andy Griffith, 81 a week from tomorrow, confides that "when my wife, Cindy, and I go someplace, and I don't want to be recognized, she says, `Don't talk!'" Hearing him boom across the phone lines from his hometown of Manteo, N.C., you know what she means. Griffith's weathered face has been part of America's pop-culture Mount Rushmore for half-a-century, whether as Mayberry's comic philosopher of a sheriff or the wily cornpone lawyer Matlock. But his rich and loamy voice can open up pockets of memory like a down-home audio version of Marcel Proust's madeleine.

NOTE: This is a 2007 story from The Baltimore Sun's archives. Andy Griffith, 81 a week from tomorrow, confides that "when my wife, Cindy, and I go someplace, and I don't want to be recognized, she says, 'Don't talk!'" Hearing him boom across the phone lines from his hometown of Manteo, N.C., you know what she means. Griffith's weathered face has been part of America's pop-culture Mount Rushmore for half-a-century, whether as Mayberry's comic philosopher of a sheriff or the wily cornpone lawyer Matlock.

Harvey Bullock, 84, a writer for The Andy Griffith Show and other television comedies, died April 23 at a hospital in Laguna Beach, Calif., of age-related illnesses. Born in North Carolina, Mr. Bullock graduated from Duke University with a bachelor's degree in English. He served in the Navy during World War II, writing and transmitting fake radio messages designed to mislead the Germans. He spent five years writing for The Andy Griffith Show. In the late 1960s, he and writing partner Ray Allen collaborated on the screenplays for the comedy movies Who's Minding the Mint?

HOLLYWOOD -- Don Knotts, the saucer-eyed, scarecrow-thin comic actor best known for his roles as the high-strung, small-town deputy Barney Fife on the 1960s CBS series The Andy Griffith Show and the leisure-suit-clad landlord Ralph Furley on ABC's '70s sitcom Three's Company, has died. He was 81. Mr. Knotts, who lived in West Los Angeles, died Friday night of lung cancer at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, according to Sherwin Bash, his longtime manager. Family members said that his longtime friend Mr. Griffith was one of his last visitors.

Andy Griffith is host and narrator of The Andy Griffith Reunion: Back to Mayberry. Yes, the cast reunited back in the 1986 movie Return to Mayberry), but it seems that the 1960-1968 series still has a gentle hold on its original viewers as well as on many who've caught the constant reruns. This time, Griffith, Ron Howard, Don Knotts and Jim Nabors reunite, and other cast members, including George Lindsey and Betty Lynn, appear in separate interviews. The program airs from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. on CBS (WJZ, Channel 13)

Andy Griffith, 81 a week from tomorrow, confides that "when my wife, Cindy, and I go someplace, and I don't want to be recognized, she says, `Don't talk!'" Hearing him boom across the phone lines from his hometown of Manteo, N.C., you know what she means. Griffith's weathered face has been part of America's pop-culture Mount Rushmore for half-a-century, whether as Mayberry's comic philosopher of a sheriff or the wily cornpone lawyer Matlock. But his rich and loamy voice can open up pockets of memory like a down-home audio version of Marcel Proust's madeleine.

Andy Griffith is everywhere. On "Matlock" reruns, solving crimes and eating chili dogs. On reruns of "The Andy Griffith Show" as a single parent counseling his son, Opie, played by a young Ron Howard. He even made an appearance on a recent episode of "Dawson's Creek." Now Andy is in Sunday school. Joey Fann, a 35-year-old computer engineer, has developed a series of Sunday school lessons based on the moral and ethical lessons illustrated by the TV adventures of Andy, Opie, Barney Fife, Gomer Pyle and others.

MOUNT AIRY, N.C. - Doug Reeves parked his station wagon at the meterless curb on Main Street, leaving it open and unlocked - you can do that here - and walked through the door of Floyd's Barber Shop. There, like an old black and white television rerun come to life, the customers looked up, put down their magazines and joined in friendly banter: How's the family ... Good to see ya ... Yer lookin' well ... Thank you, kindly. Back home after eight years in Nashville, Tenn., Reeves wasn't looking to get his well-moussed silvery mane touched up; nor was he looking for Floyd the barber - for he knows no Floyd exists.

Andy Griffith is everywhere. On "Matlock" reruns, solving crimes and eating chili dogs. On reruns of "The Andy Griffith Show" as a single parent counseling his son, Opie, played by a young Ron Howard. He even made an appearance on a recent episode of "Dawson's Creek." Now Andy is in Sunday school. Joey Fann, a 35-year-old computer engineer, has developed a series of Sunday school lessons based on the moral and ethical lessons illustrated by the TV adventures of Andy, Opie, Barney Fife, Gomer Pyle and others.