In Memorium: Andy Griffith

Four Color #1252 (Jan-Mar;1962) & #1341 (Apr-Jun;1962) Dell Comics

Native North Carolinian and beloved actor, Andy Griffith passed away this morning at his home in Dare County, NC. He was eighty-six years old. Griffith transformed himself from a comedic monologist into a manipulative and power-hungry drifter who becomes a television host that uses his show as a gateway to political power in his dramatic film debut,1957s A Face in the Crowd. He followed up that success with No Time for Sergeants, and beginning in 1960 Griffith starred as “Sheriff Andy Taylor” in perennially popular The Andy Griffith Show. The series was set in the fictional town of Mayberry, North Carolina, where widower Taylor, was the town sheriff. It was an immediate hit. Although Griffith never received any writing credit for the show, he worked on the development of every script, and while co-star Don Knotts was frequently lauded and won multiple Emmy Awards for his comedic performances (as Deputy Barney Fife), Griffith was never nominated for a single Emmy Award during the shows run. Griffith left the show in 1968, spinning it off as “Mayberry RFD” (with some new and continuing characters), but he remained as producer. Griffith enjoyed a long career in television, films and recording, and also experienced a late career resurgence as a Southern lawyer in "Matlock" (from 1986-1995). The Catacombs extends its sincerest condolences to his family, friends and fans.