Andy Griffith

Andy Griffith was an American actor, television producer, Grammy Award-winning Southern-gospel singer, and writer who passed away at age 86 due to a heart attack. He is best known for playing the lead role in the 1960–1968 comedy "The Andy Griffith Show" and in the 1986–1995 legal drama "Matlock." Born in 1926, his family was so poor, he was sent to live with relatives and they were so poor they couldn't afford a crib, so he slept in a drawer as a baby. In 1946, he started studying music at University of North Carolina (UNC) in Chapel Hill, North Carolina for three years and then taught music and drama at a high school in Goldsboro, North Carolina. He hit it big with a comedy album he released in 1953 and his career skyrocketed. After a few television appearances, his big role came along in the show “The Andy Griffith Show” where he played the lead character. Later in his life, in 1986, he became popular with a new generation with the highly successful show “Matlock.” On July 3, 2012 he departed