Andy Griffith Thought He Was ‘Hot Stuff’ After Mayberry, But ‘Sat Around the House for Several Years’ Instead
After the tremendous success of The Andy Griffith Show, it makes perfect sense that star Andy Griffith thought he could easily transition his career to movies. But as he shared in a recently-resurfaced 1986 interview with PEOPLE, “I thought I was going to be hot stuff. Instead, I sat around the house for several years.”
Despite Griffith’s plans for big-screen stardom, reality was very different. He made one film, 1969’s Angel in My Pocket, and ended up starring in a few failed shows including Headmaster and Salvage-1 before finding success once again as the star of Matlock in the 1980s.
Although he was ready to move on from Mayberry and find success elsewhere when the series ended, in 1986, he called working on The Andy Griffith Show “the best years of my life.”
Luckily, Griffith got to reminisce with his former costars in an ’80s reunion for the show before he died on July 3, 2012. Nearly two decades after the final episode aired, Griffith, Don Knotts, Ron Howard and their Mayberry family gathered again for Return to Mayberry.
Viacom/Everett Collection
Filmed in Los Olivos, California, which was transformed into Mayberry for the occasion, the reunion carried a wave of nostalgia for the cast. “It feels like old home week,” Jim Nabors admitted, while George Lindsey joked, “They’re going to have to bury me in my Goober hat.” Knotts, who had gone on to enjoy a successful career in movies and on Three’s Company, was deeply moved by stepping back into Barney Fife’s shoes and said, “I’ve missed the place. This was the best thing I’ve ever done.”
For Howard, then 32 and already establishing himself as a director, returning to Mayberry was a sentimental experience. “I didn’t think the experience would live up to my expectations,” he reflected, “but the feelings are still there.” Griffith reportedly teased his former TV son on set, saying, “I thought you had to be 50 to get your name on a director’s chair.”
The idea for the reunion sparked a few years earlier, when Griffith, Knotts and Howard presented at the Emmys and felt the audience’s reaction. Griffith later recalled, “We went out to dinner and talked about doing the reunion.” The result was Return to Mayberry, a heartwarming reminder of why the fictional town still feels like home to generations of viewers.
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