By Ann Oldenburg
Beloved actor Andy Griffith died this morning.Former UNC president Bill Friday says the Andy Griffith Show and Matlock actor died at his home in Dare County, N.C., around 7 a.m.
Friday, who was a close friend of the actor, confirmed the news to WITN News.
Emergency medical crews responded to Griffith’s home this morning, Dare County Sheriff J.D. Doughtie told WAVY.com.
UPDATE: 12:10 p.m. The Virginian-Pilot cites “two close friends” – Eddie Greene and W. Ray White – as confirming Griffith’s death. AP says Sheriff Doughtie confirmed the news, in a statement from the family, saying, “Mr. Griffith passed away this morning at his home peacefully and has been laid to rest on his beloved Roanoke Island.”
Griffith, who was born in Mount Airy, N.C., was launched to fame as Sheriff Andy Taylor in The Andy Griffith Show for CBS from 1960-1968. On the show, Ron Howard played his son, Opie. He starred on other shows and in films, but found his greatest success again with legal drama Matlock, from 1986 to 1995. He played the title character, Ben Matlock.
In 2000, Griffith underwent quadruple heart-bypass surgery and in 2007 had hip surgery after a fall.
Griffith and his first wife, Barbara Bray Edwards, married in 1949. They were divorced in 1972 and she got custody of their daughter, Dixie ,and he got custody of son Sam, who died in 1996 after years of alcoholism. His second marriage, to Greek actress Solica Cassuto, lasted eight years, from 1973 to 1981.