<p>At the age of 86. How sad. He was such a part of my childhood. He and all the others who lived in Mayberry. The little Ron Howard. </p>
<p>I’m beginning to feel the footsteps of old age creeping up on me.</p>
<p>Just saw this:</p>
<p>[Andy</a> Griffith Dies – Dead at 86 | TMZ.com](<a href=“Andy Griffith Dead -- TV Icon Dies at 86”>Andy Griffith Dead -- TV Icon Dies at 86)</p>
<p>Maybe he wasn’t as “newsworthy” as Tom Cruise or the Kardashians, but I really liked those old “Andy Griffith Shows” with Opie and Barney. RIP, Sheriff Taylor.</p>
<p>Rent “A Face In The Crowd” some time to see Andy Griffith in a very interesting movie role.</p>
<p>Great minds think alike, Hayden - I felt the same way!</p>
<p>hate to say, but my reaction was “he was still alive?”.</p>
<p>“No Time for Sargeants” was my military dad’s favorite movie.</p>
<p>scout59, I second your suggestion.</p>
<p>Yes it’s sad but he was 86. Lived a good long life.</p>
<p>I liked Andy Griffith too.</p>
<p>Hunt, yes - that’s an amazing film, and he (and Patricia Neal) are terrific in it.</p>
<p>I grew up loving Andy, Barney, Opie, Aunt Bea and the other Mayberry regulars. I have not tired of them yet. Before his death in September 2010, my FIL met on a regular basis for breakfast with a group that included George Lindsey, Ray Stevens, Ralph Emery, and a couple of other funny people. He would often recount stories told during those times, some of them that should have been repeated and some that shouldn’t. It meant a great deal to us when his breakfast buddies shared some of their memories of FIL with us at his memorial service.</p>
<p>
I was going to post the same thing. He was a very powerful serious actor but chose folksy roles like Mayberry and Matlock…</p>
<p>The Andy Griffith show would be a very serious contender for the best TV series ever made, in my book.</p>
<p>If you want to see the essential decency he projected, rent Waitress. Made in 2007, stars Keri Russell. Sad story behind the film is the writer, director and one of the actors in the movie, Adrienne Shelly was murdered when the movie was in post. Andy is marvelous and plays a crucial role. Terrific movie. Deserves to be seen more.</p>
<p>Thing about the original show was how he worked to shape it to be real and decent. Writers and actors were encouraged to become characters in a town instead of characters on a set. Even the wiki article about the show notes this, that Griffith himself realized he didn’t want to play Sheriff Andy as the No Time for Sergeants smart bumpkin - which was the way he also did his stage show monologues. He changed and that made the show what we remember. I have no idea what he was like as a person but I’ve heard him describe with great love the people he worked with, with the possible exception of Aunt Bee, whom everyone described as difficult. He expressed real emotion about Don Knotts and how he turned Barney Fife into one of the great comic characters.</p>
<p>His depiction of Lonesome Rhodes in “A Face in the Crowd” is one of the creepiest, stunning, dead-on acting achievements in the 20th century. That movie still gives me chills.</p>
<p><a href=“A Face in the Crowd - YouTube”>www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJGUm9e_BLU</a></p>
<p><a href=“Interesting Clip from Face in the Crowd - YouTube”>www.youtube.com/watch?v=edpz9f5LVaY&feature=related</a></p>
<p>I’ve told many people that you can learn everything you need to know about parenting from how Andy was with Opie. Still love that show.</p>
<p>Awww. This is so sad. He has struggled with a chronic illness for a while, and it is sad to hear he finally lost the battle.</p>
<p>I just read this news. 
</p>
<p>Raise your hand if you were a little kid being raised by a single parent who so badly wished your life was as precious as Opie, Aunt Bea & Andy.</p>
<p>RIP Andy Griffith.</p>
<p>NetFlix doesn’t have A Face in the Crowd as an instant watch item, but my public library has he DVD, which I just placed a hold on. The trailer (as suggested above) blew my mind!</p>
<p>LOVED Waitress. </p>
<p>I may have to have a Griffith marathon over the weekend.</p>
<p>I loved that show as a child.</p>