# Andy Griffith reported dead **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 3, 2012, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-griffith-reported-dead/627099 "2012-07-03T14:22:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lantern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d26b3c/32.png) [@Lantern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lantern)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2012, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-griffith-reported-dead/627099/21 "2012-07-03T17:43:34Z")
I came here to mention Face in the Crowd about which there is a nice [post](http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2012/07/03/andy_griffith_dead_at_86_before_andy_taylor_and_matlock_there_was_a_face_in_the_crowd_.html)at Slate. It is indeed a terrific performance by Griffith, very different from his later, famous TV roles. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2012, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-griffith-reported-dead/627099/22 "2012-07-03T18:07:57Z")
I had the honor once of playing the assistant D.A. in an episode of _Matlock_ with him. He was a total gentleman and chewed the fat with all of us extras during the down-time. Sherriff Taylor will always be the best law-man ever. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2012, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-griffith-reported-dead/627099/23 "2012-07-03T18:09:16Z")
In addition to _Face in the Crowd_, one of his great villain performances was in _Murder in Coweta County_, an early '80s TV movie with Johnny Cash based on a true story. (June Carter Cash plays a country witch- the character is not only real but the real one was a much more over-the-top character.) The movie’s available [in full on YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f26Slro2qmI&feature=share) and is a must-see for those who’ve only seen folksy friendly Andy. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2012, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-griffith-reported-dead/627099/24 "2012-07-03T19:24:36Z")
I recall interviews with Andy where he said it took him several months to shake off that character in _A Face in The Crowd_. The experience shook him up enough that he avoided heavy dramatic roles for quite awhile. His acting was really good in the Griffith show. At first he tried being the comic lead like in No Time for Sergeants. Then realized it worked better to let the Sheriff be the straight man to Barney and the other characters. > [@Loach](#): > > I have always thought he was a brilliant actor that did not ever get the chance to show his full potential. _A Face in The Crowd_ is one of the best performances of all time. And its even more relevant now than it was then. He was fantastic in No Time For Sergeants (my parents saw him in it on Broadway). He certainly had a greatly successful career but it would have been interesting to see him in more serious roles like in Face. ---
**Author:** ![cdsilv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cdsilv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cdsilv)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2012, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-griffith-reported-dead/627099/25 "2012-07-03T19:32:07Z")
G’bye Ange, we’ll miss you. ---
**Author:** ![Quintas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/48db29/32.png) [@Quintas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quintas)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2012, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-griffith-reported-dead/627099/26 "2012-07-03T20:14:52Z")
According to this: [http://www.wavy.com/dpps/entertainment/celebrity\_news/ems-called-to-andy-griffiths-nc-home\_4226631?hpt=hp\_t2](http://www.wavy.com/dpps/entertainment/celebrity_news/ems-called-to-andy-griffiths-nc-home_4226631?hpt=hp_t2) He died this morning and was laid to rest at 11:30am. That seems unusual these days. Seems like it would take longer than a few hours to get a casket delivered and the grave dug. Unless that was already done. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2012, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-griffith-reported-dead/627099/27 "2012-07-03T20:16:57Z")
Doesn’t take long to dig a grave with a backhoe. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2012, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-griffith-reported-dead/627099/28 "2012-07-03T20:22:17Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > Doesn’t take long to dig a grave with a backhoe. [del]Or dynamite.[/del] Forgot, Manteo is on the coast. Chances are they didn’t really need to dig, just sort of push down real hard. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2012, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-griffith-reported-dead/627099/29 "2012-07-03T20:54:38Z")
That one makes me cry. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2012, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-griffith-reported-dead/627099/30 "2012-07-03T21:15:04Z")
Wow I just got the sad news here in Mount Pilot. ☹ The “Andy Griffith Show” may seem corny to some but it sure was one enjoyable show to watch and it brings back a lot of memories from my youth. RIP Andy Taylor “Ain’t Bea, call the man.” (remember that one?) ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2012, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-griffith-reported-dead/627099/31 "2012-07-03T21:26:12Z")
> [@Quintas](#): > > According to this: [http://www.wavy.com/dpps/entertainment/celebrity\_news/ems-called-to-andy-griffiths-nc-home\_4226631?hpt=hp\_t2](http://www.wavy.com/dpps/entertainment/celebrity_news/ems-called-to-andy-griffiths-nc-home_4226631?hpt=hp_t2) > > He died this morning and was laid to rest at 11:30am. That seems unusual these days. Seems like it would take longer than a few hours to get a casket delivered and the grave dug. Unless that was already done. :eek: That seems a bit odd. Wonder what the story behind that was. Can’t remember if it was “American Masters” but PBS did a segment on him. Very heart warming. Another childhood memory gone. Dang. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2012, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-griffith-reported-dead/627099/32 "2012-07-03T21:28:24Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > Doesn’t take long to dig a grave with a backhoe. They just threw a rock at a loaded goat where they wanted the grave. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2012, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-griffith-reported-dead/627099/33 "2012-07-03T22:21:16Z")
> [@Quintas](#): > > According to this: [http://www.wavy.com/dpps/entertainment/celebrity\_news/ems-called-to-andy-griffiths-nc-home\_4226631?hpt=hp\_t2](http://www.wavy.com/dpps/entertainment/celebrity_news/ems-called-to-andy-griffiths-nc-home_4226631?hpt=hp_t2) > > He died this morning and was laid to rest at 11:30am. That seems unusual these days. Seems like it would take longer than a few hours to get a casket delivered and the grave dug. Unless that was already done. :eek: If his wife is remarried by dinnertime I’m calling the North Carolina Attorney General. Griffith was born and raised in Mt. Airy. You’ll frequently read-hear that Mt. Airy was the inspiration for Mayberry, and certainly the town cashes in on the connection (though to me it will always be far more famous as the adopted hometown of Chang and Eng Bunker), but this was apparently a pet peeve of Griffith’s as I never once heard it brought up in an interview with him when he did not take time to correct it. He said repeatedly that while he and Andy Taylor were both from small town North Carolina, Mayberry was a fictional place and any connection between it and Mt. Airy were coincidental. In one interview he said that there were episodes and personalities inspired by people he knew from Mt. Airy, but no more than were inspired by people Don Knotts had known in West Virginia or Jim Nabors had known in Sylacauga and less than were just made up by the writers. So if his shade is turning channels, he must be irritated at all of the “born in Mt. Airy, the inspiration for Mayberry” that seems to accompany every televised and aired obituary. Many may associate Manteo with _The Lost Colony_ and some may know that there’s an outdoor pageant there commemorating it, but may not realize that the pageant is a big deal and has some big talent. A few years ago Lynn Redgrave appeared as Queen Elizabeth in it for a summer, the Broadway actor Terence Mann (Broadway’s first Javert in _Les Mis_ among other major roles) spent a summer there and there have been other big names associated with it. Griffith appeared there when he was young and just starting out and played Sir Walter Raleigh in one summer’s production. To be born and raised in the same town as the Siamese Twins and to die and be buried near the Lost Colony would seem in and of themselves indicative of a life well lived to me. I just hope his tombstone reads “CROATOAN”, or, failing that, “Mmmmm-mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm-mmmmh!” ---
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2012, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-griffith-reported-dead/627099/34 "2012-07-04T00:05:56Z")
> [@Quintas](#): > > According to this: [http://www.wavy.com/dpps/entertainment/celebrity\_news/ems-called-to-andy-griffiths-nc-home\_4226631?hpt=hp\_t2](http://www.wavy.com/dpps/entertainment/celebrity_news/ems-called-to-andy-griffiths-nc-home_4226631?hpt=hp_t2) > > He died this morning and was laid to rest at 11:30am. That seems unusual these days. Seems like it would take longer than a few hours to get a casket delivered and the grave dug. Unless that was already done. :eek: My guess is that were trying to keep the funeral private. Can’t blame them. I would hate to have press at a loved one’s funeral. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2012, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-griffith-reported-dead/627099/35 "2012-07-04T00:17:21Z")
…or the Godamn Phelpses. ---
**Author:** ![wedgehed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8edcca/32.png) [@wedgehed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wedgehed)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2012, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-griffith-reported-dead/627099/36 "2012-07-04T00:23:07Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > In addition to _Face in the Crowd_, one of his great villain performances was in _Murder in Coweta County_, an early '80s TV movie with Johnny Cash based on a true story. (June Carter Cash plays a country witch- the character is not only real but the real one was a much more over-the-top character.) The movie’s available [in full on YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f26Slro2qmI&feature=share) and is a must-see for those who’ve only seen folksy friendly Andy. Slight hijack.. I was born & raised in Coweta County. I have older family members who knew both Sheriff Lamar Potts & John Wallace. If you liked the movie, be aware that the book has a bit more depth & some twists & turns that didn’t make it into the movie. Hijack over. I love the old B&W episodes of the _Andy Griffith Show_. RIP Andy. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2012, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-griffith-reported-dead/627099/37 "2012-07-04T01:15:08Z")
> [@wedgehed](#): > > Slight hijack.. > > I was born & raised in Coweta County. I have older family members who knew both Sheriff Lamar Potts & John Wallace. If you liked the movie, be aware that the book has a bit more depth & some twists & turns that didn’t make it into the movie. I love the book. There are also a couple about Mahayley Lancaster (June Carter Cash’s character). Lamar Potts’s son was actually an advisor on the film, which is why they incorporated such things as his singing “When You and I Were Young, Maggie” and Potts being a terrible driver. Returning to topic, Griffith met his third wife- now widow, Cindi, on the set of that movie. She was an extra and a crew member. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2012, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-griffith-reported-dead/627099/38 "2012-07-04T01:32:38Z")
I heard the 911 call from his wife. I’m missing something here. She called and said he was unconscious. Would a coroner rule on the cause of death so quickly? Does this mean he was already terminally ill? ---
**Author:** ![Frazzled](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frazzled/32/3368_2.png) [@Frazzled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frazzled)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2012, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-griffith-reported-dead/627099/39 "2012-07-04T01:42:47Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > I heard the 911 call from his wife. I’m missing something here. She called and said he was unconscious. Would a coroner rule on the cause of death so quickly? Does this mean he was already terminally ill? They were discussing this on the radio on my way home and said that the funeral was already planned and all the arrangements in place. Apparently his death was expected. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2012, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-griffith-reported-dead/627099/40 "2012-07-04T02:37:00Z")
I’m imagining a coffin being loaded onto the back of a pickup truck, which in turn the Darlings sit on and pick and play til it’s taken the few hundred yards to the buryin’ hole out back. Speaking of, [QUOTE=notfrommensa] Warren, Charlene Darling, and Ellie Walker are also still living. [/QUOTE] The Dillards, who played Charlene’s silent brothers, are still alive and still perform (along with other members of their family married or born since the show). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-griffith-reported-dead/627099.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/andy-griffith-reported-dead/627099.md?page=3)