Editing Andy Griffith (section)

===Television roles===

====Early television roles====
Griffith's first appearance on television was in 1955 in the one-hour teleplay of ''No Time for Sergeants'' on ''The United States Steel Hour''. That was the first of two appearances on that series. In 1960, Griffith appeared as a [[County (United States)|county]] [[sheriff]], who was also a [[justice of the peace]] and the [[copy editing|editor]] of the local newspaper, in an episode of ''[[Make Room for Daddy]]'' starring [[Danny Thomas]]. This episode, in which Thomas's character is stopped for running a stop sign in a little town, served as a [[backdoor pilot]] for ''The Andy Griffith Show''. Both shows were produced by [[Sheldon Leonard]].

====''The Andy Griffith Show'' (1960–1968)====
[[File:Andy Griffith Julie Adams Andy Griffith Show 1962.JPG|thumb|left|Andy Griffith and [[Julie Adams]] in 1962]]
Beginning in September 1960, Griffith starred as [[Andy Taylor (The Andy Griffith Show)|Sheriff Andy Taylor]] in ''The Andy Griffith Show'' for the [[CBS#Television years: expansion and growth|CBS television network]]. The show took place in the fictional town of [[Mayberry]], North Carolina, where Taylor, a widower, was the sheriff and town sage. The show was filmed at Desilu Studios, with exteriors filmed at [[RKO Forty Acres|Forty Acres]] in [[Culver City, California]].

From 1960 to 1965, the show co-starred [[character actor]] and comedian&nbsp;— and Griffith's longtime friend&nbsp;— Don Knotts in the role of [[Deputy sheriff|Deputy]] [[Barney Fife]], Taylor's best friend and comedy partner. He was also Taylor's cousin in the show at first, though later they dropped that cousin relationship and talked simply of knowing one another since boyhood. In the series premiere episode, in a conversation between the two, Fife calls Taylor "Cousin Andy", and Taylor calls Fife "Cousin Barney." The show also starred child actor [[Ron Howard]] (then known as Ronny Howard), who played Taylor's only child, Opie Taylor. It was an immediate hit. Griffith never received a writing credit for the show, but he worked on the development of every script. Knotts was frequently lauded and won multiple [[Emmy Award]]s for his comedic performances, as did [[Frances Bavier]] in 1967, while Griffith was never nominated for an Emmy Award during the show's run.

[[File:Andy Griffith Lee Meriwether 1971.JPG|thumb|right|Publicity photo with [[Lee Meriwether]] for ''[[The New Andy Griffith Show]]'', 1971]]
In 1967, Griffith was under contract with CBS to do one more season of the show. However, he decided to quit the show to pursue a movie career and other projects. The series continued as ''[[Mayberry R.F.D.]]'', with [[Ken Berry]] starring as a widower farmer and many of the regular characters recurring, some regularly and some as guest appearances. Griffith served as executive producer (according to Griffith, he came in once a week to review the week's scripts and give input) and guest starred in five episodes (the pilot episode involved his marriage to [[Helen Crump]]).<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062587/fullcredits "Full Cast and Crew for ''Mayberry R.F.D.'']. [[IMDb]]. Retrieved January 14, 2010.</ref> He made final appearances as Taylor in the 1986 reunion [[television movie|television film]], ''[[Return to Mayberry]]'', with fellow co-star, Don Knotts. Two reunion specials followed in 1993<ref name=1993reunion>{{cite news|last=King|first=Susan|title=Nostalgia star of Andy Griffith reunion|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=IUJWAAAAIBAJ&pg=1165,1773529&dq=matlock+knotts|access-date=July 3, 2012|newspaper=Gainesville Sun|date=February 7, 1993|location=Gainesville, FL|page=7D}}</ref> and 2003,<ref name=2003-reunion-a>{{cite news|last=Gilbert|first=Matthew|title=Remembering the warm glow of Mayberry|url=https://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles/2003/11/11/remembering_the_warm_glow_of_mayberry/|access-date=July 4, 2012|newspaper=The Boston Globe|date=November 11, 2003|location=Boston, MA}}</ref> with strong ratings.<ref name=2003-reunion-b>{{cite news|last=Thomas|first=George M.|title=Ron Howard says 'The Missing' compels with story, performances|url=https://www.boston.com/ae/celebrity/articles/2003/11/28/ron_howard_says_the_missing_compels_with_story_performances/|access-date=July 4, 2012|newspaper=The Boston Globe|date=November 28, 2003|location=Boston, MA}}</ref>

====''Matlock'' (1986–1995)====
After leaving his still-popular show in 1968, and starting his own production company Andy Griffith Enterprises in 1972, Griffith starred in less-successful television series such as ''[[Headmaster (TV series)|Headmaster]]'' (1970), ''[[The New Andy Griffith Show]]'' (1971), ''[[Adams of Eagle Lake]]'' (1975), ''[[Salvage 1]]'' (1979) and ''The Yeagers'' (1980). After spending seven months in rehabilitation for leg [[paralysis]] from [[Guillain–Barré syndrome]] in 1983, Griffith returned to television as the title character, Ben Matlock, in the legal drama ''Matlock'' (1986–1995) on NBC and ABC. Matlock was a [[country lawyer]] in [[Atlanta]], Georgia, who was known for his [[Southern American English|Southern drawl]] and for always winning his cases. ''Matlock'' also starred unfamiliar, struggling actors (both of whom were childhood fans of Andy Griffith) [[Nancy Stafford]] as Michelle Thomas (1987–1992) and [[Clarence Gilyard]], Jr. as Conrad McMasters (1989–1993). By the end of its first season it was a ratings powerhouse on Tuesday nights. Although the show was nominated for four Emmy Awards, Griffith once again was never nominated. He did, however, win a People's Choice Award in 1987 for his work as Matlock.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.peopleschoice.com/pca/awards/nominees/index.jsp?year=1987 |title=People's Choice Awards 1987 |access-date=August 1, 2013}}</ref>

====Other television appearances====
Griffith also made other character appearances through the years on ''[[Playhouse 90]]'', ''[[Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.]]'', ''[[The Mod Squad]]'', ''[[Hawaii Five-O (1968 TV series)|Hawaii Five-O]]'', ''[[The Doris Day Show]]'', ''[[Here's Lucy]]'', ''[[The Bionic Woman]]'' and ''[[Fantasy Island]]'', among many others. He also reprised his role as Ben Matlock on ''[[Diagnosis: Murder]]'' in 1997, and his final guest-starring role was in 2001 in an episode of ''[[Dawson's Creek]]''.