![]() Although he plays a "country boy," he is manipulative and power-hungry, a drifter who becomes a television host and uses his show as a gateway to political power. ![]() In 1957, Griffith made his film début in A Face in the Crowd. No Time for Sergeants is considered the direct inspiration for the later television situation comedy, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. This marked the beginning of a lifelong association between Griffith and Knotts. The film also featured Don Knotts, as a corporal in charge of manual-dexterity tests. Griffith later reprised his role for the film version (1958) of No Time for Sergeants. He expanded that role in Ira Levin's full-length theatrical version of the same name (October, 1955) on Broadway in New York City. Griffith starred in Ira Levin's one-hour teleplay version of No Time for Sergeants (March, 1955) - a story about a country boy in the United States Air Force - on The United States Steel Hour, a television anthology series. The monologue was released as a single in 1953 on the Colonial Records label and was a hit for Griffith, reaching #9 on the charts in 1954. Griffith's early career was as a monologist, delivering long stories such as What it Was, Was Football, which is told from the point of view of a rural backwoodsman trying to figure out what was going on in a football game. Pinafore (1949).Īfter graduation, he taught music and drama for a few years at Goldsboro High School in Goldsboro, North Carolina, where he taught, among others, Carl Kasell. He also played roles in several student operettas, including The Chimes of Normandy (1946), Gilbert and Sullivan's The Gondoliers (1945), The Mikado (1948) and H.M.S. He began college studying to be a Moravian preacher, but he changed his major to music and became a part of the school's, Carolina Playmakers. He attended the University of North Carolina (UNC) in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and graduated with a bachelor of music degree in 1949. A growing love of music - particularly swing - would change his life. By the time he entered school, he was well aware that he was from what many considered the "wrong side of the tracks." He was a shy student, but once he found a way to make his peers laugh, he began to come out of his shell and into his own.Īs a student at Mount Airy High School, Griffith cultivated an interest in the arts, and he participated in the school's drama program. In 1929, when Griffith was three, his father began working as a carpenter and purchased a home in Mount Airy's "blue-collar" south side. With neither a crib nor a bed, he slept in dresser drawers for several months. He went on to play the lead character in the 1960–1968 situation comedy, The Andy Griffith Show, and in the 1986–1995 legal drama, Matlock.īorn in Mount Airy, North Carolina, as a baby, Griffith lived with relatives until his parents could afford to buy a home. Andy Griffith in A Face in the Crowd, 1957Īndy Griffith was born 96 years ago today.Īn actor, television producer, Southern-gospel singer and writer, Griffith gained prominence in the starring role in director Elia Kazan's film, A Face in the Crowd (1957), before he became better known for his television roles.
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