Andy Griffith, R.I.P.

I grew up in the house next door to Thelma Lou. That is, Betty Lynn was our next door neighbor and Betty, as part of a long acting career that spanned many shows and stages, played Barney Fife's girl friend on The Andy Griffith Show. She was like my unofficial aunt and I'm still in contact with her.

When I was around fourteen I got to visit Mayberry — a trip to the set to watch them film a little. I got to meet Aunt Bee and Barney and Goober (Gomer had already gone off and joined the Marines by then) and I played a little handball with Opie who trounced me. Ernest T. Bass was not in the episode they were shooting but Howard Morris, the man who played him, was visiting the set and I met him and told him I knew that he was also Atom Ant. Howie would later become my unofficial uncle and I sometimes called him Uncle Goopie.

And I met Sheriff Andy that day. Just for a few moments.

The best thing I can tell you about Andy Griffith, who has just died at the age of 86, is that I never saw or heard any reason to think he was not like the characters he played on TV. I never saw that. Betty told me all about him and the show and what went on when cameras weren't rolling and nothing she said ever contradicted the qualities of warmth and honesty and humility that he displayed in all his TV roles. (Parts he played in movies like A Face in the Crowd were another matter.) Even Howie, who would explode in anger about those he'd worked with and tell you an hour of stories about what a prick Danny Kaye was, didn't have one bad thing to say about Andy.

The last time I saw Andy Griffith in person was at Howie's funeral in '05. He and Howie weren't that close but Andy still made the difficult trip out to L.A. from North Carolina for the sad event. He didn't get up and speak; just sat with Betty and me. After the service, I heard someone ask him why he didn't appear at the podium and he said, "'Cause Carl [Reiner] was speaking and I knew he'd say everything that had to be said and anyway, I couldn't do any better than him." That was true but it didn't stop a lot of performers from getting up there and talking just to get into the spotlight. Show biz funerals usually include a certain amount of that.

There were rumors then that Andy was about to revive the character of Ben Matlock for a couple of TV Movies. On the old show, which had been out of production for ten years, Andy had asked the producers to offer at least one job to each of the recurring actors on The Andy Griffith Show and even to some prominent guest stars. It was a bit of a ratings gimmick but when Betty appeared on Matlock, she viewed it as a kindness by Andy — making sure his old friends still got a bit of work — and wanting to see them again.

There was an actor who'd done the old Griffith Show but had never been on Matlock. As we all filed out of the funeral and milled about outside, this actor walked up to Andy, grabbed his hand to shake it and introduced himself, reminding Andy of the role he'd once played.  "Hey, I hear you may do more Matlocks," he then said. "That would be great, really great. People really love you as that character." Then, doing a very bad job of pretending he meant the following only as a joke, he added, "And hey, maybe I'll finally get to do a Matlock like everyone else who was ever on The Andy Griffith Show, heh heh."

If it had been you or me in Andy's position, we'd have "joked" back something about how a funeral isn't the place to be trolling for employment. But then you and I aren't as polite as Andy Griffith. Sorry to have to break it to you but you aren't…and I'm certainly not. We wouldn't have done what he did and just force a smile and make like we were happy to see this person again. Andy did that and replied that the reports weren't true. He'd retired Ben Matlock because he was afraid the public had just plain seen enough of that guy — but he added, "If I change my mind and do any more, I'll sure keep you in mind."

The actor thanked him and stepped away, probably figuring he'd done the best he could do for himself to plant a seed. Then Andy turned to Betty, who I was standing with, and gave a look that you'd know if you ever watched The Andy Griffith Show. It was that "it takes all kinds" look and it was about as close as Sheriff Andy Taylor ever got to losing his temper.

But of course you watched The Andy Griffith Show. Everyone did and many still do. Its timelessness is amazing and its popularity endures, long exceeding shows that got higher ratings back when it was in first run. There's something so primal and warm about that series that new generations latch onto it and old ones won't let it go. No one can quite explain it but whatever it is, it came from Andy Griffith. He was the core. He was the heart of that show and that's what it still runs on: Heart.

One thing he did was to forget the fact that it was The Andy Griffith Show. To him, that was just a name and some weeks, it could be The Jim Nabors Show or The Ronny Howard Show or The Frances Bavier Show or The Whoever Show, and every week until Barney left, it was certainly The Don Knotts Show. There are many stars who would never have allowed that; who would have figured it was their show so they were going to get the punch lines and they were going to get the attention and they sure as hell weren't going to let any friggin' supporting player steal as many scenes from them as Don swiped from Andy. Some weeks, it was all of them.

Andy didn't care. In fact, he truly seemed to enjoy it and he sure loved Don. All that mattered was that the show was good and popular. Deep down, he knew if it was that, he'd get all the benefits he could get.

This is pointed out often in the TV business. Whenever some insecure star starts complaining that someone else in the show has too many lines or a big scene that has "Emmy" written all over it and they demand a rewrite, someone reminds them about Andy Griffith. Often, Mary Tyler Moore and Jack Benny are also mentioned — two folks who had pretty good careers letting someone else be The Funny One. But they always mention Andy and note how he may well have been the most successful TV performer of all time. Letting Don get the laughs sure didn't hurt.

What a nice, secure man. What a nice, secure and smart man. There's no point in saying we're going to miss him because we won't. As long as there are television sets in this world, he's never going to leave us.