Do You Remember These Famous ‘Andy Griffith Show’ Guest Stars?

THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW, Andy Griffith, Barbara Eden, 'The Manicurist', (Season 2, ep. 16, aired Jan. 22, 1962), 1960-68 — Everett Collection

Before Andy Griffith rubbed elbows with rising and established Hollywood stars on Matlock, he did so on his original small-screen claim to fame, The Andy Griffith Show.

On that CBS sitcom — a spinoff of The Danny Thomas Show — Griffith played Andy Taylor, the widowed sheriff of the fictional Mayberry, North Carolina. Ron Howard, meanwhile, played Andy’s son, Opie; Frances Bavier played his aunt, Bee Taylor; and Don Knotts played his deputy, Barney Fife. The show ran for eight seasons from 1960 to 1968, ending its run at No. 1 and inspiring the spinoffs Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. and Mayberry R.F.D.

And the good sheriff of Mayberry crossed paths with many familiar faces, as you’ll see below. Here are more than a dozen recognizable guest stars from The Andy Griffith Show.

Bill Bixby

This TV actor — who played Tim O’Hara, human companion to My Favorite Martian, and Dr. David Banner, human counterpart of The Incredible Hulk — guest-starred on The Andy Griffith Show as the spoiled Ronald Bailey in Season 2’s “Bailey’s Bad Boy.”

Richard Bull

Before starring as Nels Oleson on Little House on the Prairie, Bull portrayed the school administrator Mr. Jackson in Season 7’s “Opie’s Piano Lesson.”

Ellen Corby

Everett Collection

Later known as Esther “Grandma” Walton on The Waltons (a performance that won her three Emmy Awards), Corby played Myrt “Hubcaps” Lesh, a woman who sells Barney a lemon of an automobile, in Season 3’s “Barney’s First Car.”

Bob Denver

The Gilligan of Gilligan’s Island guest-starred on Andy Griffith as Dud Wash, recent ex-husband of Charlene Darling (Maggie Peterson), in Season 4’s “Divorce, Mountain Style.”

Buddy Ebsen

This actor, most famous as Jed Clampett in The Beverly Hillbillies and the title detective of Barnaby Jones, had a one-episode appearance as David Browne, the titular drifter of Season 2’s “Opie’s Hobo Friend.”

Barbara Eden

Before springing from the genie bottle in I Dream of Jeannie, Eden guest-starred on Andy Griffith as Ellen Brown, a nail artist new to town, in Season 2’s “The Manicurist.”

Jamie Farr

The actor behind M*A*S*H’s Corporal Klinger joined The Godfather’s Vito Scotti in playing newcomers who curse Mayberry with bad weather in Season 6’s “The Gypsies.”

Teri Garr

Before she starred in 1980s films like Tootsie and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Garr had a role as “Girl in Red Convertible” in Season 8’s “The Wedding.”

Jean Hagen

Hagen, who earned three Emmy nominations for her role as Margaret Williams on the Andy Griffith predecessor The Danny Thomas Show, played the namesake motorist of Season 2’s “Andy and the Woman Speeder.”

Alan Hale Jr.

Denver wasn’t the only Gilligan’s Island star who appeared on The Andy Griffith Show — the Skipper, too! Hale played Jeff Pruitt, a farmer who sets his sights on Barney’s love interest Thelma Lou (Betty Lynn), in Season 2’s “The Farmer Takes a Wife,”

Gavin MacLeod

Known for his roles as Murray Slaughter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Captain Merrill Stubing on The Love Boat, MacLeod played Gilbert Jamel, a crook posing as a television producer, in Season 5’s “TV or Not TV.” The actor popped up on Andy Griffith the following season, too — he played Bryan Bender, the actor cast as Andy, in “The Taylors in Hollywood.”

Jack Nicholson

This three-time Academy Award winner also had dual roles on the show. He played Mr. Garland, a father whose wife ditches their child at the sheriff’s office, in Season 7’s “Opie Finds Baby” and Marvin Jenkins, a man on trial for allegedly stealing a TV, in Season 8’s “Aunt Bee, the Juror.”

Rob Reiner

Before he starred as Mike “Meathead” Stivic on All in the Family and became a Hollywood director, Reiner guest-starred on Andy Griffith as Joe, a printer’s apprentice, in Season 7’s “Goober’s Contest.”

Don Rickles

The insult comic dubbed the Merchant of Venom portrayed the title character, a hapless salesman, in Season 5’s “The Luck of Newton Monroe.”

Jerry Van Dyke

Van Dyke, late little brother of Dick and a star of Coach, played Jerry, a one-man band left behind by a traveling carnival, in Season 5’s “Banjo-Playing Deputy.” Griffith and Van Dyke later shared the screen in the 1969 comedy film Angel in My Pocket.