Andy Griffith, best known for playing the sheriff on the 1960's sitcom, "The Andy Griffith Show," died on Tuesday, July 3 in Roanoke Island, N.C. at the age of 86.
The television icon was confirmed dead by friend and former University of North Carolina president Bill Friday, who confirmed the news to WITN News, an NBC affiliate in Washington, N.C.
Griffith started his career as a comedic monologist with the 1953 release of "What It Was, Was Football." He then moved on to perform on Broadway in productions, such as "No Time for Sergeants" and "Destry Rides Again."
The first film Griffith starred in was "A Face in the Crowd" and followed that up with a film version of "No Time for Sergeants," in which he acted alongside longtime friend Don Knotts.
In 1986 Griffith took on the lead role in the legal drama, "Matlock," which ran until 1995. He also appeared in Brad Paisley's video for "Waitin' on a Woman" in 2008.
Paisley said of Griffith: "Few people in this world will ever have more influence on our lives than Andy Griffith," Paisley said today, in a statement. "An actor who never looked like he was acting, a moral compass who saved as many souls as most preachers, and an entertainer who put smiles on more faces than almost anyone; this was as successful a life as is pretty much possible."
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