Early life and education
Griffith was born on June 1, 1926 in Mount Airy, North Carolina, the only child of Carl Lee Griffith and his wife, Geneva (née Nunn). As a baby, Griffith lived with relatives until his parents could afford to buy a home. With neither a crib nor a bed, he slept in dresser drawers for several months. In 1929, when Griffith was three, his father began working as a helper or carpenter and purchased a home in Mount Airy's "blue-collar" south side. Griffith grew up listening to music. By the time he entered school, he was well aware that he was from what many considered the "wrong side of the tracks". He was a shy student, but once he found a way to make his peers laugh, he began to come out of his shell and come into his own.
As a student at Mount Airy High School, Griffith cultivated an interest in the arts, and he participated in the school's drama program. A growing love of music, particularly swing, would change his life. Griffith was raised Baptist and looked up to Ed Mickey, a minister at Grace Moravian Church, who led the brass band and taught him to sing and play the trombone. Mickey nurtured Griffith's talent throughout high school until graduation in 1944. Griffith was delighted when he was offered a role in The Lost Colony by Paul Green, a play about Roanoke Island still performed today. He performed as a cast member of the play for several years, playing a variety of roles until he finally landed the role of Sir Walter Raleigh, for whom North Carolina's capital is named.
He attended the University of North Carolina (UNC) in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in 1949. He began college studying to be a Moravian preacher, but he changed his major to music and became a part of the school's Carolina Playmakers. At UNC, he was president of the UNC chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, America's oldest fraternity for men in music. He also played roles in several student operettas, including The Chimes of Normandy (1946), and Gilbert and Sullivan's The Gondoliers (1945), The Mikado (1948) and H.M.S. Pinafore (1949). After graduation, he taught music and drama for a few years at Goldsboro High School in Goldsboro, North Carolina, where he taught, among others, Carl Kasell. He also began to write.
Griffith starred in Ira Levin's one-hour teleplay, No Time for Sergeants (March 1955) — a story about a country boy in the United States Air Force — on The United States Steel Hour, a television anthology series. He expanded that role in Ira Levin's full-length theatrical version of the same name (October 1955) on Broadway in New York City. The role earned him a Tony Award nomination for "Distinguished Supporting or Featured Dramatic Actor" nomination at the 1956 Tony Awards, losing to Ed Begley. He did win the 1956 Theatre World Award, however, a prize given for debut roles on Broadway. "Mr. Griffith does not have to condescend to Will Stockdale" (his role in the play), wrote Brooks Atkinson in The New York Times. "All he has to do is walk on the stage and look the audience straight in the face. If the armed forces cannot cope with Will Stockdale, neither can the audience resist Andy Griffith."
Griffith later reprised his role for the film version (1958) of No Time for Sergeants; the film also featured Don Knotts, as a corporal in charge of manual-dexterity tests, marking the beginning of a lifelong association between Griffith and Knotts. No Time for Sergeants is considered the direct inspiration for the later television situation comedy Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. – a spin-off of The Andy Griffith Show.
Don Knotts
Griffith's friendship with Don Knotts began in 1955 when they co-starred in the Broadway play No Time for Sergeants. Several years later, Knotts had a regular role on The Andy Griffith Show for five seasons. Knotts left the series in 1965, but periodically returned for guest appearances. He appeared in the pilot for Griffith's subsequent short-lived series, The New Andy Griffith Show, and he had a recurring role on Matlock, from 1988 to 1992. In a January 2000 interview, Griffith said of Knotts, "The five years we worked together were the best five years of my life."
They kept in touch until Knotts' death in early 2006. Griffith traveled from his Manteo, North Carolina, home to Los Angeles to visit the terminally ill Knotts at Cedars-Sinai just before Knotts died of lung cancer.
Griffith and Barbara Bray Edwards were married on August 22, 1949, and they adopted two children: a son named Andy Samuel Griffith Jr. (born in 1957 and better known as Sam Griffith) and a daughter named Dixie Nann Griffith.
They divorced in 1972. Sam, a real-estate developer, died in 1996 after years of alcoholism. The senior Griffith's second wife was Solica Cassuto, a Greek actress.
Griffith and Cindi Knight married on April 12, 1983, after they met while she was a cast member of The Lost Colony.
They remained married until Griffith's death. Griffith also had three granddaughters through his daughter Dixie.
Health and death
Griffith's first serious health problem was in April 1983 when he was diagnosed with Guillain–Barré syndrome and could not walk for seven months because of paralysis from the knees down.[59][60]
On May 9, 2000, he underwent quadruple heart-bypass surgery at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia.
After a fall, Griffith underwent hip surgery on September 5, 2007, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
President George W. Bush presented Andy the Medal of Freedom
On July 3, 2012, Griffith died at his Roanoke Island home in Manteo, North Carolina, from a heart attack he had the day before; he was 86.[63][64] His death certificate listed hypertension, coronary artery disease, and hyperlipidemia as underlying health conditions. In accordance with prior arrangements, no services were held at the time, and he was buried in a cemetery on the island within five hours of his death.
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- SERVES
- 6
- COOK TIME
- 20 Min
Nothing says "campfire dinner" like beans and hot dogs, which is why recipes like this Amazing Hot Dogs 'n' Beans Skillet are so popular during the summertime. Whether you're cooking this up over a real campfire or on your own kitchen stove, this budget-friendly casserole is sure to put a smile on your face.
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 (28-ounce) cans baked beans, undrained
- 6 hot dogs, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
- 1 cup corn chips
- Preheat grill to medium-high heat. Melt butter in a cast iron skillet. Add onion and sauté until tender.
- Add remaining ingredients, except corn chips; mix well and cook 12 to 15 minutes, or until heated through, stirring occasionally.
- Top with corn chips and serve.
1895 – Jack Dempsey, American boxer and soldier (d. 1983)
1931 – Billy Casper, American golfer and architect (d. 2015)
1942 – Michele Lee, American actress
- Belgian Pralines – contain a hard chocolate shell with a softer, sometimes liquid, filling.
- French Pralines – a combination of almonds and caramelized sugar.
- American Pralines – contain milk or cream and are softer and creamier, resembling fudge.
The powder made by grinding up sugar-coated nuts is called pralin. This is an ingredient in many types of cakes, pastries and ice creams. When this powder is mixed with chocolate, it becomes praliné in French, which gave birth to what is known in French as chocolat praliné.
