Ron Howard learned the brutal limits of TV make-believe when he was handed an ice cream cone on the set of The Andy Griffith Show. “The hot lights melted any frozen dessert in a matter of seconds, so my cones were filled with cold, lumpy mashed potatoes,” he recalled. “I mean, try licking that and smiling ear to ear as a 6-year-old. Now that is some acting to be proud of.”
From 1960 to 1968, The Andy Griffith Show welcomed viewers to Mayberry, North Carolina, a fictional town populated by a diverse group of colorful characters. Wise, good-natured Sheriff Andy Taylor, played by Andy Griffith, served as the voice of reason and the sensible hub which all storylines revolved around. “The show is about friendship,” Daniel de Visé, the brother-in-law of Barney Fife actor Don Knotts and the author of Andy & Don: The Making of a Friendship and a Classic American TV Show, exclusively tells Closer. “All of Mayberry is one big family. They all love each other, protect each other, and look out for each other.”
Andy created the series as a reaction to his acclaimed performance as ambitious and egomaniacal “Lonesome” Rhodes in 1957’s A Face in the Crowd. This dark political satire made Andy a movie star, but filming it exacted a real psychological toll. “I don’t ever want to do that again,” Andy told Ron, according to the Opie actor’s 2021 The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family. “I like to laugh when I’m working.” Ron noted that Andy also viewed the humorous, but largely realistic small-town characters that populated Mayberry as a good contrast to the southern stereotypes of “mush-mouthed hayseeds” and “buxom sexpots” on 1960s TV series like The Beverly Hillbillies and Petticoat Junction. “Andy was proud of where he came from,” said Ron. “One of his major motivations for the sitcom was to portray his world with humanity and depth.”
‘The Andy Griffith Show’ Boasted a Memorable Cast
Widower Andy Taylor and his son, Opie, were introduced to the American public in early 1960 on an episode of The Danny Thomas Show, where Danny is arrested on a driving violation in Mayberry. “Don [Knotts] saw our appearance on Danny Thomas’s show,” recalled Ron. “So he called Andy and said, ‘Don’t you think your sheriff could use a deputy?’”
Andy and Don had met years earlier in New York City, where they bonded over being guys from small southern towns trying to make it on Broadway. In 1958, they also costarred in the military comedy No Time for Sergeants. “They were very good friends who had a lot of fun together,” Don’s daughter, Karen Knotts, author of Tied Up In Knotts: My Dad and Me, told Closer. “They loved comparing notes and telling stories. That was their main bond, the small towns they grew up in.”
Don, who was more thoughtful, calm and intelligent than Barney, based his neurotic character on his younger self. Born in West Virginia, he spent his childhood with an alcoholic and schizophrenic father who terrorized his family. “He was emotionally very volatile and lived in a lot of fear and anxiety,” explained Karen. “He didn’t have a protector like Andy and I think he wished he had that.”
Andy looked out for everyone on the set. When Howard McNear, who played Floyd the Barber, suffered a serious stroke in the third season, Andy made it possible for him to return to the show. “Andy, ever magnanimous, didn’t want to lose Howard or the Floyd character,” said Ron, who explained that the crew rigged a special chair allowing Howard to sit for his scenes. His wife Helen was invited to accompany him to work to assist.
Alabama-born and bred Jim Nabors joined the show as Gomer Pyle after Andy saw his comedy act at a nightclub in Santa Monica, California, and invited him to audition. “I had never acted before and it scared the heck out of me,” Jim told Closer about his first day on the job. Andy did his best to set Jim at ease. “He called in all the cast and all of the techs together before we started shooting. He said, ‘Listen up everybody, our guest star this week is Jim Nabors. Now, ya’ll be nice to him and help him in any way you can because he ain’t never done this before.’”
Frances Bavier, the actress who played Aunt Bee, offered some excellent advice that day. “She was watching me behind the camera in my first scene,” recalled Jim. “She knew I came out of nightclubs and that was very physical. She said, ‘You don’t have to do all that. The camera never misses anything. Just do the lines that you’re already doing well.’ Everybody was so nice.”
It’s been said that Frances, a New York born and bred theater actor, didn’t mesh with Andy. “I never saw anything of the sort,” said Ron. “My picture of Frances is of an elegant, urbane woman who simply chose to stay out of the fray … She generally spent her breaks reading The New York Times and doing the crossword puzzle.”
A Look Back at ‘The Andy Griffith Show’
Despite its popularity, longevity and excellent storytelling, The Andy Griffith Show was never beloved by critics. “It was almost an uphill battle,” de Visé said. “Just look at the total number of Emmy awards reaped by The Andy Griffith Show compared with, say, The Dick Van Dyke Show. They were both wonderful shows, both incidentally created by Sheldon Leonard, but The Dick Van Dyke Show won many more Emmy awards.”
The Andy Griffith Show has, however, stood the test of time better than many of its contemporaries. It remains Andy’s greatest legacy. “As a father, a leader, a friend, and a neighbor, Andy left us with a character with strong values,” actress Nancy Stafford, who worked with the star on his later series Matlock, told Closer. “They’re characters that embody the best of American values and have bettered our culture, not diminished it.”