Very sad news indeed. My granddad had a few vintage comedy albums back from when hillbilly Andy did rustic stand-up.

Not always a comedian, Griffith was a powerful presence (and con-man) in A Face in the Crowd (1957), with Patricia Neal.

No Time For Sergeants was one of the more memorable books I read as a child, and although the screenplay eliminated most of the funniest bits (after all, we wouldn't want to take a chance on offending anyone, since so many in what's left of our society seem to exist in a perpetual state of indignation), Andy, Nick Adams (The Rebel) & Don Knotts were hilarious.

What can be said about his magnum opus, The Andy Griffith Show that hasn't been said? It defined & reflected small town life throughout each successive decade of its syndication. (Like Leave it to Beaver, quite a feat for a B&W television show!) And will continue to do so. Not unlike Jerry Seinfeld, Andy played the straight man, surrounded by his familiar entourage of characters. Don Knotts, who would never have a better role than Barney Fife, should have never left Mayberry to make that horrible cartoon fish movie. It was all downhill from there, I'm afraid.

And of course, Ron Howard owes Andy everything. Period.

Many may have lost touch with Andy between his Mayberry days and the popular, though rather bland Matlock era. I remember a few valiant pilots of Adams of Eagles Lake, where Andy attempted a serious version of a small (resort) town sheriff, solving murders weekly. (Not the sort of resort I might wish to frequent; might as well live in Detroit.)

Remember Salvage? Andy played a millionaire (remember when a million dollars was enough to live on forever?) junk dealer who was determined to fly his own private rocket to the moon to salvage all the "junk" left behind by NASA missions?

RIP, Andy!

I'd never heard of Salvage (I was born in the summer of '77 and have spent countless hours in front of a television since, so I'm always amazed when I see a television show from the '70s or '80s that I've never seen before), but I checked out its intro on YouTube and it looks awesome. :b

The Andy Griffith Show's the only show or movie I've seen Mr. Griffith in, but I've watched it all of my life, thanks to my dad and grandpa. And my kids and grandkids'll watch it, courtesy of me. Even if that show had been the only work he'd ever done, he'd still have a heck of a legacy. =)