#Fact1According to Cindi Knight, she called 911 for her husband, because he was very sick. His widow heard that Griffith was vomiting, who was also found unconscious, who was also slumped over and wasn't responding to anything. He'd been ill, for 1 night, who also got outside and inside his wheelchair, and stopped breathing. The ambulance rushed over to his house, and got to Griffith, until the paramedics were unsuccessful in reviving him.2He was the surrogate grandfather to all of Ron Howard's 4 children: daughter Bryce Dallas Howard, twins Jocelyn Carlyle and Paige Howard, and son Reed Cross Howard.3Taught his Matlock (1986) co-star, Clarence Gilyard Jr. how to be very funny, and being a straightman to him.4He suggested to his Matlock (1986) co-star, Clarence Gilyard Jr., to live in North Carolina, for the show's seventh season on ABC, after production would no longer filmed in Los Angeles, for NBC, fortunately for Gilyard, he did, for over a year.5Was very preventive with the scripts on Matlock (1986).6Was involved in every writing of the script of both of his series: The Andy Griffith Show (1960) and Matlock (1986).7Born on the same date as Marilyn Monroe.8In 1962, Griffith was one of the actors to have ruled the ranks of other sitcom male lead stars, such as Danny Thomas, John Forsythe, Alan Young, Robert Young, Fred MacMurray, Buddy Ebsen and Ernest Borgnine.9Like his best friends Don Knotts and Dick Van Dyke, Griffith was known to be a very private man.10Retired and living in Manteo, North Carolina. [January 2003]11Released Christmas CD of songs/stories. [2003]12Had suggested Ron Howard to write some scenes for The Andy Griffith Show (1960).13Was a spokesperson for the PSA Tree Farmers in the 1970s.14While working in New York, doing a play 'Destry Rides Again,' Griffith was approached by Danny Thomas and Sheldon Leonard, for their first choice as the lead role of Sheriff Andy Taylor on The Andy Griffith Show (1960), as a spin-off of Thomas's Make Room for Daddy (1953), he accepted the role.15After starring in 2 unsuccessful series Headmaster (1970) and The New Andy Griffith Show (1971), he returned to working in nightclubs.16After his relocation to Manteo, Roanoke Island, North Carolina, he met his third and final wife, Cindi Knight, in the play 'The Lost Colony.'.17He suggested Dean Hargrove and Fred Silverman film a two-part episode in his real-life hometown of Manteo, North Carolina, for the beginning of the fourth season of Matlock (1986).18After Brandon Tartikoff saw him in Fatal Vision (1984), he called Dean Hargrove and Fred Silverman to suggest hiring Griffith for the lead role in Matlock (1986), which was his comeback to television after 18 years.19Was a staunch Democrat.20Survived by his wife, Cindi Knight, of 29 years and 1 daughter.21Played the guitar on both series: The Andy Griffith Show (1960) and Matlock (1986).22He purchased his first trombone at age 15.23An only child.24He commuted from his coastal home in North Carolina to Los Angeles every weekend for the first 6 years while starring in Matlock (1986) on NBC.25Before he was a successful actor, he used to sweep the schools, where he got paid $6 a month.26Relocated to Manteo, Roanoke Island, North Carolina, from 1983 to 2012.27Acting mentor and friends of Ron Howard, Kene Holiday, Nancy Stafford, Clarence Gilyard Jr. and Daniel Roebuck.28Was the only actor to appear in all 249 episodes of The Andy Griffith Show (1960).29Played the same character, Andy Taylor, five times on four different shows and one movie: Make Room for Daddy (1953), The Andy Griffith Show (1960), Gomer Pyle: USMC (1964), Mayberry R.F.D. (1968) and Return to Mayberry (1986).30Before he was a successful actor, he worked at various nightclubs in New York City, playing music and doing acting.31His comedy record, "What it was, Was Football", sold more than 900,000 copies in 1953.32Met Dick Van Dyke in 1954, in New York City. They become friends for over 55 years.33His parents, Geneva Nunn and Carl Lee Griffith, were married in late 1918, just shortly after World War I. The couple had Andy 8 years later.34His mother, Geneva Nunn Griffith, was a housewife and caregiver, and his father, Carl Lee Griffith, was a carpenter.35His first wife Barbara Griffith was a dancer, a singer and soprano.36Was the only actor to appear in all 195 episodes of Matlock (1986).37Had auditioned for and won the leading role of 'The Carolina Playmakers,' while attending college.38Met R.G. Armstrong and future wife Barbara Griffith in the play, 'The Carolina Playmakers', at the University of N. Carolina-Chapel Hill, in 1945.39His decision to end Matlock (1986), in 1995, was because he wanted to spend more time with his family. He would reprise his role one more time, with Dick Van Dyke, in a 2 part episode of Diagnosis Murder (1993) in 1997.40Childhood friend of Emmett Forrest.41At Mt. Airy High School, he fell in love with performing arts and participated in school plays.42His hobbies included golfing, fishing, playing guitar, politics, boat rowing, singing, Bible and reading.43After his role on Play the Game (2009), he retired from acting at age 83.44Began writing when he was age 15.45Andy Griffith passed away on July 3, 2012. Just 24 days after his death, his longtime colleague, actor R.G. Armstrong, passed away. They were best friends for over 65 years.46Was always involved with every detail of the script of both shows: The Andy Griffith Show (1960) and Matlock (1986).47His mother introduced him to playing the guitar.48Andy Griffith died on July 3, 2012, at age 86, and just 5 days before Ernest Borgnine, who died at age 95.49Within five hours of his death, he was buried in the Griffith Family Cemetery on the island of Manteo, North Carolina.50An old friend Dick Van Dyke guest-starred on the debut pilot episode of Matlock (1986). Years later, Van Dyke reunited with Griffith on Diagnosis Murder (1993), where Griffith kept his role as Ben Matlock.51He played the same character (Sheriff, Andy Taylor) on four different series: Make Room for Daddy (1953), The Andy Griffith Show (1960), Gomer Pyle: USMC (1964) and Mayberry R.F.D. (1968).52He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6148 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.53Andy Griffith and George Lindsey, a co-star from The Andy Griffith Show (1960), died less than 2 months apart. Lindsey's life-loss was in May 2012 and Griffith's life-loss was in July 2012.54Unlike Lucille Ball and Jackie Gleason, Griffith disliked the idea of using a studio audience for his own sitcom, The Andy Griffith Show (1960), because he felt it would give him and his co-stars pressure to deliver their one-liners, so the series was filmed almost like a movie allowing for the actors to have quiet scenes and for the fictional town of Mayberry to feel like a real place.55Andy recorded a speaking role in Brad Paisley's song, "Waitin' on a Woman", about a old man imparting romantic advice to Brad. Griffith played the role for an accompanying music video.56Griffith's album, "I Love to Tell the Story: 25 Timeless Hymns" won the 1997 Grammy Award for Best Southern Gospel, Country Gospel or Bluegrass Gospel Album.57In 2010, he appeared in a series of TV commercials advocating for the Health Care Reform bill proposed by President Barack Obama. The commercials were withdrawn after Griffith received hundreds of death threats from opponents of the bill.58Friends with: Shirley Jones, Danny Thomas, Don Knotts, Dick Van Dyke, and brother Jerry Van Dyke, Bill Bixby, Gavin MacLeod, Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, David Carradine, Dick Van Patten and wife Pat Van Patten and sister Joyce Van Patten, Rance Howard, Jack Dodson, Dabbs Greer, Betty Lynn, Aneta Corsaut, Mitchell Laurance, Arlene Golonka, R.G. Armstrong, Hal Smith, Ken Berry, George Lindsey, Denver Pyle, Jim Nabors, Fred Silverman, Dean Hargrove, Sheldon Leonard, Aaron Spelling, Roddy McDowall, Angie Dickinson, Mickey Rooney, William Schallert, Walter Matthau, James Drury, James Best and Patricia Neal.59Remained good friends with Clarence Gilyard Jr. and Daniel Roebuck throughout Matlock (1986), before the creation and after it was canceled.60Remained good friends with Ron Howard during and after The Andy Griffith Show (1960).61Has a long association with ex-The Andy Griffith Show (1960) co-star, Ron Howard, before and after the show's cancellation. Howard guest-starred on an episode of Griffith's short-lived series, Headmaster (1970) in 1970, and he hosted Saturday Night Live (1975) in 1982, when Andy made a surprised appearance as Andy Taylor.62On the longer-running and more popular The Andy Griffith Show (1960), Ron Howard co-starred as his son, "Opie Taylor". Ron Howard's biological mother, Jean Speegle Howard, guest-starred in one episode, Matlock: The Doctors (1987), of Griffith's second long-running show, Matlock (1986), in 1987.63At least five actors and actresses named him as their favorite actor or comedian: Jack Dodson, Aneta Corsaut, Betty Lynn, Arlene Golonka and Don Knotts, all guest-starred with him on Matlock (1986).64Inducted into the Christian Music Hall of Fame and Museum in 2007.65After a fall, he underwent successful hip surgery, on Wednesday, September 5th, 2007.66His decision to end The Andy Griffith Show (1960), in 1968, led him to a contract with Universal Studios, where he pursued a movie career.67His characters had driven 2 separate Ford automobiles on both of his series: The Andy Griffith Show (1960) and Matlock (1986).68Graduated from Mount Airy High School in Mount Airy, North Carolina in 1944.69Before becoming an actor, he was a comedian and a singer.70While attending high school, he looked up Ed Mickey, who was a minister at Grace Moravian Church, who was also a musical band leader, in the brass instruments, Ed Mickey taught Andy Griffith how to play the trombone, successfully.71Before Andy's parents had purchased a house, he lived with relatives. Without a crib or bed, Andy slept in drawers for a few months, just a couple of years after he was born.72Taught English at Goldsboro High School in Goldsboro, North Carolina for a period of time.73Was idolized by: Nancy Stafford, Clarence Gilyard Jr., Daniel Roebuck, Randolph Mantooth, Katie Couric and Matt Lauer.74He and Don Knotts were best friends from 1955 to Friday, February 24, 2006, when Don Knotts lost his life.75Best known by the public for his starring roles as Andy Taylor in The Andy Griffith Show (1960) and the title character in Matlock (1986).76The town of Mayberry on "The Andy Griffith Show" is based upon Andy Griffith's hometown Mount Airy, North Carolina. By the same token, the characters on the show will commonly mention the "sister city" of Mount Pilot. Mount Pilot does exist, but its true name is Pilot Mountain, and has the same basic geographical positioning to Mount Airy as Mayberry does to Mount Pilot. The towns in both reality and the series are about 15 miles apart. Both towns (in both universes) are north of Winston-Salem, North Carolina near the North Carolina and Virginia state borders.77Was on same stage with Elvis Presley in The Steve Allen Plymouth Show (1956). It was Steve Allen's second show, after Allen piloted his debut, with more popular celebrities, Bob Hope, and others were in the debut and pilot, the previous week, and Allen's show skyrocketed in popularity.78Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush on Tuesday November 9th, 2005. Other recipients were Frank Robinson, Muhammad Ali, General Richard Myers, Paul Rusesabagina, Carol Burnett, Aretha Franklin, Vint Cerf and his Internet co-developer Robert Kahn, Jack Nicklaus, Alan Greenspan, and former congressman Gillespie "Sonny" Montgomery.79During a 1959 performance of the Broadway musical "Destry Rides Again", in which Griffith starred opposite Dolores Gray, a small fire broke out backstage at the Imperial Theater. Although it was put out within a few minutes time, without causing any major damage, just enough smoke drifted toward the stage that there could have been a panic had not Griffith and Gray continued on with the scene as though nothing was happening. For their bravery, they were rewarded by the audience that night with a standing ovation and by the New York City Fire Comissioner with citations for heroism.80Was twice nominated for Broadway's Tony Award: in 1956, as Best Supporting of Featured Actor (Dramatic) for "No Time for Sergeants," and in 1960 as Best Actor (Musical) for "Destry Rides Again."81Andy Griffith's longest and most popular character role of Andy Taylor, on The Andy Griffith Show (1960), was ranked at number 8 in TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time", in Sunday, June 20th, 2004's issue.82Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith, pg. 195-196. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 081602338783He recorded some albums of standup comedy, including one titled "Just for Laughs". Among his classic routines is "What It Was, Was Football", about a country bumpkin who witnesses his first football game.84Attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he earned a Bachelor's Degree in Music in 1949. He originally attended school to study to be a Moravian preacher before he changed his major. His social life in college included: President of UNC Men's Glee Club and membership in Alpha Rho Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, the US' oldest music fraternity for men.85He was the Tuesday night host for CBS Radio's "Sears Mystery Theater" (1979). He was still Tuesday's host when it became "The Mutual Radio Theater" on Mutual Radio (1980).86On May 9, 2000, he successfully underwent a quadruple bypass surgery.87In 1987, when he accepted the People's Choice Award, he said he was happy it was for Matlock (1986). He said that Matlock (1986) was his favorite character to date.88His two children, Andy Griffith Jr. and Dixie Griffith, were from his first of three wives, Barbara Griffith, as they decided to be parents, by adoption.89His son, Andy Griffith Jr., died of alcoholism, in 1996.90Suffered from Guillain-Barre Syndrome and couldn't walk for 7 months. [1983]