Andy Griffith's Real Name: Andy Griffith

Quick answer: The actor was known professionally as Andy Griffith. Biography.com and NCpedia independently date the birth to June 1, 1926, in Mount Airy, North Carolina, and the death to July 3, 2012.

Real name and early life

Independent publishers identify him under the professional name Andy Griffith. Biography.com dates the birth to June 1, 1926, in Mount Airy, North Carolina, and says he enrolled as a pre-divinity student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1944 and graduated in 1949 with a degree in music. NCpedia independently dates the birth to June 1, 1926, in Mount Airy, North Carolina, and says he enrolled at Chapel Hill intending to become a preacher, then changed his major to music and graduated in 1949. NCpedia also records later teaching at Goldsboro High School; Biography.com independently says he taught high school music for three years after graduation.

Career highlights

Biography.com and NCpedia independently record the 1953 comedy recording "What It Was Was Football," later work in No Time for Sergeants, the 1957 film A Face in the Crowd, and the later Broadway musical Destry Rides Again. Biography.com says a 1960 guest appearance as a small-town mayor on Make Room for Daddy led CBS to give him The Andy Griffith Show, in which he played Sheriff Andy Taylor, and dates the series to 1960–68. NCpedia independently traces the same guest appearance, on Make Room for Daddy, to the later starring role as Sheriff Andy Taylor, and says the show stopped production in 1967 and that Griffith quit the show in 1967. Biography.com records later work as the title character in Matlock, on NBC from 1986 to 1992 and on ABC from 1993 to 1995. NCpedia independently dates Matlock from 1986 until 1995 and records the later gospel album I Love to Tell the Story: 25 Timeless Hymns, released for Sparrow Records in 1996.

Death

Biography.com says he died on July 3, 2012, at the age of 86, at his home in Manteo, Roanoke Island, North Carolina. NCpedia independently says he passed away at his home in Dare County on July 3, 2012.

Name notes for searchers

People looking up Andy Griffith are looking for the same actor, including the later television work most often associated with his name. Search traffic often uses the professional name Andy Griffith in many later television series lookups.