She often played similar character-types to her iconic Aunt Bee. ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW, Ron Howard, Frances Bavier, 1960-1968. After some silver screen success, she moved to television with her first recurring role in 71 episodes of It’s A Great Life. She got her big-screen break in 1951’s The Day the Earth Stood Still. Born and raised in Manhattan, Frances first started performing in vaudeville, then moved to Broadway. Frances Bavier (Aunt Bee) YouTube Screenshot / Everett CollectionĪunt Bee was the paternal aunt of Andy Taylor and well-known in Mayberry for her cooking skills! One of the more popular Aunt Bee episodes is when she won some pretty expensive prizes on a game show and didn’t know what to do with them. Today, at 68, more recent directorial credits include Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), Hillbilly Elegy (2020) and this year’s Thirteen Lives. He won an Academy Award for his direction of A Beautiful Mind and was nominated once again in 2009 for Frost/Nixon. Ever since Ron’s 20s, he’s slowly developed into a powerhouse director. But many forget he was part of the 1971 to 1972 comedy-drama The Smith Family, co-starring with Henry Fonda and Darleen Carr, the younger sister of The Sound of Music star. We all know his starring role in Happy Days as Richie Cunningham. THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW, Ron Howard, 1960-68 The following year he became Opie and the world knew his name, face and pretty much everything about him. Then in ‘59 at just five years old, he landed a recurring character named ‘Stewart’ on Dennis the Menace. He got his start in 1956, being brought to sets like Frontier Woman by his actor father, Rance Howard, and being used in the shoot. The legendary Ron Howard portrayed this typical and likable rural baby boomer. Ron Howard (Opie) Everett Collection / Wikipedia There’s even an Andy Griffith Museum in Mount Airy, North Carolina. Griffith sadly died in 2012 at the age of 86 back in his home state. In addition to his recordings of comic monologues in the 1950s, Andy recorded an album of upbeat country and gospel tunes. But Andy would once again hit the jackpot with 1986’s Matlock, where once more we got to watch Griffith and Don Knotts at it again. Post-’60s, Griffith started his own production company and starred in less-successful shows like The New Andy Griffith Show and Salvage 1. Griffith did serve as executive producer and guest-starred in five episodes. In 1967, Griffith was under contract for one more season but he refused and the show morphed into the spinoff Mayberry R.F.D, starring the great Ken Berry. As others like Knotts took home Emmys, Andy was never even nominated. Although he never received writing credit, Griffith worked on the development of every script. THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW, Andy Griffith, Jack Dodson, 1960-1968 In 1960, Griffith appeared on an episode of Make Room for Daddy as a county sheriff, and this role served as a backdoor pilot for The Andy Griffith Show, as both programs were produced by Sheldon Leonard. The film costarred the incredible Don Knotts and began a lifelong friendship and working relationship. In 1958 Griffith reprised an earlier stage role for the film version of No Time for Sergeants - w hich would also be credited as the direct inspiration for the later spinoff, Gomer Pyle, USMC.
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