Andy Griffith Dead at 86

By On 07/03/2012 · 36 Comments · In American Idol

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Beloved TV Star, Andy Griffith, 86, died this morning at his home in Dare County, North Carolina around 7 a.m.

I watched Griffith compulsively as a kid on “The Andy Griffith Show” and I’m not going to lie…I catch it in re runs sometimes on TV Land.

The show’s gentle comedy centered on small town life in North Carolina, based on Griffith’s experiences in his hometown, Mt. Airy.  Stock characters like Gomer Pyle, Floyd the Barber and Andy’s side kick, Barney Fife were funny without falling too deeply into stereotype. And of course, The Andy Griffith Show introduced us to child actor, Ronnie Howard, who would eventually go on to become a producer and the A list movie director.

But, I could not post news of Andy Griffith’s passing without mentioning what is arguably his greatest role of all. In 1957 Griffith starred in the movie, A Face in A Crowd with Patricia Neal. The film dealt with the scary influence and power of what was at that time, the newish medium of television. The film’s insights on the medium, and the cult of personality it could create, were prescient and still resonate 50 + years later.

As Lonesome Rhodes, Griffith played a drunken wanna be country singer who is given his break by a New York television producer and eventually morphs into a monster who wields massive influence over his fans–until a spectacular fall.

And to keep this Idol related–tweets from a couple of Idol winners.

Phillip Phillips tweets, “Cant believe Andy Griffith passed away today. Loved his show. Prayers go out to the family. Use to watch it all the time with my papa.”

Scotty McCreery tweets, “RIP Andy Griffith.. We lost a legend today that provided me and my family some great quality time around the tv filled with some good laughs”

A Face In A Crowd Trailer

A Face in the Crowd – Pivotal scene with Patricia Neal

Lonesome’s TV producer, played by Patricia Neal, realizes she’s created a monster.

 
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  • fuzzywuzzy

    The few times that I heard Andy sing, I was very impressed.  I didn’t know that he had won a Grammy for one of his recordings and that it had been RIAA certified platinum:

    Griffith sang as part of some of his acting roles, most notably in A Face In The Crowd and in many episodes of both The Andy Griffith Show and Matlock.
    In addition to his recordings of comic monologues in the 1950s, he made
    an album of upbeat country and gospel tunes during the run of The Andy Griffith Show,
    which included a version of the show’s theme sung by Griffith under the
    title “The Fishin’ Hole.” In recent years, he recorded successful
    albums of classic Christian hymns for Sparrow Records. His most successful was the 1996 release I Love to Tell the Story: 25 Timeless Hymns, which was certified platinum by the RIAA.[18]
    Griffith appeared in country singer Brad Paisley’s music video “Waitin’ on a Woman” (2008).
    —————-
    Griffith received a Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album for I Love to Tell the Story — 25 Timeless Hymns in 1997.

    In 1999 Griffith was inducted into the Country Gospel Music Hall of Fame with fellow artists Lulu Roman, Barbara Mandrell, David L. Cook, Gary S. Paxton, Jimmy Snow, Loretta Lynn, and Jody Miller.[49]

    In October 2002, an 11-mile (18 km) stretch of US Highway 52 that passes through Mount Airy was dedicated as the Andy Griffith Parkway.

    He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bush on November 9, 2005.[50]

    A few weeks earlier, he had helped preside over the reopening of UNC’s Memorial Hall and donated a substantial amount of memorabilia from his career to the university.

    In 2007, he was inducted into the Christian Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Griffith

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