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Andy Griffith of Matlock fame passes away

Andy Griffith of Matlock fame passes away

TRIBUTES have been paid to the actor Andy Griffith who has passed away at the age of 86.

He will be best remembered by television viewers as the star of the long-running series Matlock.

Mr. Griffith played the high-powered lawyer of the series title for more than 240 episodes. The courtroom drama ran between 1986 and 1995.

Long before Matlock Mr. Griffith had starred in the top-rated television series The Andy Griffith Show. The comedy show had started on US television in 1960 and saw Mr. Griffith play a small town sheriff with all his folksy Southern charm.

The show (see below) was to run throughout the 1960s and was seen by many Americans as providing almost a moral compass at a time of great change for the country.

Mr. Griffith had also enjoyed success with his work in films. He had starred in Elia Kazan’s film A Face In The Crowd (1957). 

He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W. Bush in 2005.

To view a feature on The Andy Griffith Show, click here.

 

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