Actor Andy Griffith dead at 86

[Valin]

UPI:

 

7/3/12

 

MANTEO, N.C., July 3 (UPI) -- Television icon Andy Griffith died Tuesday in Manteo, N.C., his friend, Bill Friday, former president of the University of North Carolina, confirmed.

 

He was 86.

 

The actor was the star of the classic sitcom "The Andy Griffith Show" and legal drama "Matlock." His film credits include "A Face in the Crowd," "No Time For Sergeants," "Angel in My Pocket," "Adams of Eagle Lake," "The Treasure Chest Murder," "Hearts of the West," "Spy Hard," "Waitress" and "Playing the Game."

(Snip)

 

My childhood keeps dying off darn it!

[SrWoodchuck]

May God bless him. He didn't have to wait for the Embalma-Care Death Panels.

[RidesAPaleHorse]

He managed to avoid what he advocated for the rest of us.

 

R.I.P. Andy

[Geee]

Like you @RidesAPaleHorse, I was upset with him when he made the Obamacare commercial-but I too hope he rests in peace.

 

[righteousmomma]

Ditto

And I say that as a North Carolinian of many generations.

The statue of "Andy and Opie" at Pulliam Park here in Raleigh is getting many memorial flowers.

[pollyannaish]

I can forgive Andy for those commercials if I can be forgiven for voting for Dukakis in my idiotic youth.

 

To me, he represented a civility that we have lost in our culture. I will miss him. RIP Andy.

[righteousmomma]

As a Christian I do not wish or hope for Andy to be resting in peace. I rejoice that he is in our Eternal Home experiencing Love and Joy and Peace unimaginable and full of Glory.

For a " born on the wrong side of the tracks" poor young boy in rural Mt. Airy, Griffith leaves a superb and lasting legacy. His Andy Griffith Show and/or Matlock run daily on cable. They do remind us of an America that seems to be disappearing right before our eyes. Civility, respect and color blindness always combined with gentle self deprecating humor and common sense. A graduate of UNC Chapel Hill with a degree in music and a long string of varied musical and drama accomplishments Griffith epitimizes the American Dream.

 

It is a shame though that his politics did lean Democrat. He campaigned for 2 governors - Easley and Perdue- who have both been implicated in scandals of financial misuse etc. He did make the ad endorsing the disastrous Obamacare under the guise of informing us seasoned citizens with the good of Medicare. We think he was deceived and misguided -perhaps even senile - but no, he was simply a Yellow Dog Democrat. A common critter here in NC.

[NCTexan]

We took this pic of Andy ad Opie at Pulliam Park in Raleigh several years ago. This has become a local memorial site here in Raleigh after his death.

 

[Geee]

Andy Griffith’s American Humor

 

 

The actor and comedian Andy Griffith died today at the age of 86. He was described in the USA Today report as “beloved,” and his relationship with the public did indeed fit that description.

 

Griffith was best known, of course, for his character of Sheriff Andy Taylor in The Andy Griffith Show, which ran from 1960 to 1968. Sheriff Taylor, a widower with a young son, Opie (Ronny Howard), stood for staunchly conservative values such as law and order, self-discipline and self-reliance, good manners, private charitable action, good government, love for family and loyalty to community, and a simple Christian faith. In his personal life, Griffith was a strong partisan of the Democrat Party and contributed a good deal of money to it.

 

 

Griffith also starred as a cranky Southern criminal-defense lawyer in Matlock, from 1986 to 1995. The character’s prickly attitude and parsimony brought the actor’s trademark homespun humor to the mystery-drama series, and the sharp-witted lawyer conveyed the same appeal to bourgeois values as Sheriff Taylor, in a very different way.

 

In the 1950s, Griffith reached his first fame as a stand-up comedian, typically taking on the character of a rural southerner mystified by the ways of the modern world. His most acclaimed routine was “What It Was, Was Football,” in a which a naive individual tries to describe a football game. It’s quite possibly a classic of American humor. Griffith also showcased his musical abilities on his comedy albums, in film roles, and in music albums, and later on his television shows.

 

In his comedy recordings, Griffith showed a significant influence of 19th-century Southern humorists, especially in the use of long narratives and pointedly naive characters. His work also, however, included elements of the more Northern and Midwestern tradition of the cracker-barrel philosopher. This may have helped strengthen his national appeal.

http://pjmedia.com/blog/andy-griffiths-american-humor/

[Valin]

@Geee

 

[righteousmomma]

Thanks Valin . I had not listened to the "What it was, was football" story in years and don't recall ever seeing a video of it before.

[Valin]

Thanks Valin . I had not listened to the "What it was, was football" story in years and don't recall ever seeing a video of it before.

 

Don't recall ever hearing it.

[Geee]

Thanks @Valin. I like Andy Griffin in Brad Paisley's video 'Waitin on a Woman". He just fits the part.

 

[righteousmomma]

Valin, I actually heard it on an album of his that I have had since I was a mere girl - bought it either in Atlanta or Dallas.

Too senile to remember which.

Geee,now Paisley and Griffith I did not recall. So thanks to you too.

[Valin]

Thanks @Valin. I like Andy Griffin in Brad Paisley's video 'Waitin on a Woman". He just fits the part.

 

 

Oh the NAGS are going to be up in arms about that one!!!

Of course they're always up in arms about something or other.