USA: Andy Griffith, Who Starred As Mayberry Sheriff Andy Taylor And Matlock On TV, Has Died. He Was 86. :*(

The Wall Street Journal

Andy Griffith Dies At 86

written by Christopher John Farley

Tuesday July 3, 2012

Mayberry has lost a sheriff.

Andy Griffith, the star of the classic TV show that bears his name, has died. He was 86 years old.

The Dare County Sheriff’s office confirmed that an ambulance went to Griffith’s home on Roanoke Island off the North Carolina coast this morning and that Griffith died there at approximately 7 a.m.

“Andy Griffith passed away, after an illness, during the early morning on July 3 at his home in Manteo, N.C., with his wife Cindi at his side. He was 86 years old,” Griffith’s family said in a statement. “Mr. Griffith has been laid to rest on his beloved Roanoke Island.”

Griffith was an actor, director, producer, writer and singer. He starred in such memorable TV shows as the sitcom “The Andy Griffith Show” and the legal drama “Matlock.”

Born in Mount Airy, North Carolina, in 1926, he performed recorded monologues early in his career, including “What It Was, Was Football,” which was a hit on the record charts. The comic recording featured a rural man trying to figure out the mystifying rules to football. The Charlotte Observer wrote that “it established Griffith as a southern comedic voice.”

In 1957 Griffith made his feature film debut in the movie “A Face in the Crowd.”

The word iconic is much overused when it comes to writing about celebrities, but it correctly describes Griffith’s portrayal of widowed sheriff Andy Taylor on “The Andy Griffith Show” (1960–1968). Set in the fictional community of Mayberry, N.C., the series captured the rhythms of small-town life–and the nostalgia that many Americans have for a simpler, more charming way of living that maybe never really existed. (The setting romantically evoked Griffith’s own small-town roots.)

“That thoughtful viewers are able to find meaningful lessons about morality, relationships, and responsibility from ‘The Andy Griffith Show’ is not surprising,” wrote actor George Lindsey, who played “Goober Pyle” on the sitcom, in the forward to the book “The Way Back to Mayberry.” “After all, Mayberry is a wholesome place where a keen respect for others is depicted in so many ways.”

“The Andy Griffith Show” co-starred a young Ron Howard as Taylor’s son Opie. Howard tweeted this today: “Andy Griffith His pursuit of excellence and the joy he took in creating served generations & shaped my life I’m forever grateful RIP Andy.”

“Matlock” was another long-running hit for Griffith–it was crime-solving as comfort food, a straightforward legal drama that was easy to follow and harder to resist. In the series, Griffith played criminal defense attorney Ben Matlock (another widower). It ran from 1986 to 1995.

Griffith’s wife Cindi said in a statement this afternoon “Andy was a person of incredibly strong Christian faith and was prepared for the day he would be called Home to his Lord. He is the love of my life, my constant companion, my partner, and my best friend. I cannot imagine life without Andy, but I take comfort and strength in God’s Grace and in the knowledge that Andy is at peace and with God.”