I wrote this in the wake of Andy Griffith's passing, but so any other things were happening, and so much was being written at the time I decided to hold it for a while. Hardcore fans know most of these things, but there are some offbeat points in here you may not be aware of.

Andy owned 50% of the Griffith Show.

When the concept of the Andy Griffith Show was created by Sheldon Leonard and Make Room for Daddy star Danny Thomas (Marlo's dad), Griffith agreed to star in the program and landed himself a half-ownership. Griffith had not been pursuing TV up to that point, but focusing on film roles in the wake of A Face in the Crowd, No Time For Sergeants and the best-forgotten Onionhead.

Of the show's producers, Andy brought the only authentic Southern presence. The others were big city folks.

While Danny Thomas hailed from Toledo, Sheldon Leonard, born in NYC, was a veteran actor, renowned for playing comedic "tough guys" on radio and television, long before he produced Make Room for Daddy, the sitcom that starrted Thomas. Leonard later produced The Dick Van Dyke Show, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. and I Spy, which launched Bill Cosby's career in series TV. Leonard continued doing occasional acting roles, most in sitcoms like Cheers. He starrted in only one: the short-lived Big Eddie (1975).

Another Griffith Show producer, veteran comedy writer-director Aaron Ruben, was a Chicago native. While working on the series, Ruben gave young Ron Howard an 8mm movie camera that piqued Howard's interest in cinematography, probably one of a number of things that fueled his move into directing. In 1964, Ruben created Griffith Show spinoff Gomer Pyle snd later produced Sanford and Son for Norman Lear.

One of the Griffith Show's principal directors was a victim of the 50's Blacklist.

Coby Ruskin had been named as a Communist sympathizer in the early 1950's in a later-discredited publication known as "Red Channels" that impaired and/or destroyed a number of careers during those days of Cold War paranoia. For a time Ruskin had to work in England, where the stigma didn't worry anyone. He returned to the US and restarting his TV career with the Griffith Show as well as the Dick Van Dyke Show and Gomer Pyle.

Most Griffith Show cast members were experienced stage, radio and TV veterans.

Ronny Howard, not yet "Ron" and the son of character actor Rance Howard, had been acting in one-shot roles since 1956 in various TV shows like Johnny Ringo, Twilight Zone, Dennis the Menace, Cheyenne, Pete & Gladys, etc. He did other guest roles during his time on the Griffith Show, and of course he was seen in the pilot as well.

Don Knotts, a Morgantown, WVA native, had been a radio and stage actor in New York and met Griffith when both were doing No Time For Sergeants on Broadway. Knotts, a cast member of the soap opera Search for Tomorrow. broke out when he joined the ensemble on NBC's Sunday night Steve Allen Show. Knotts had already gained notoriety as a major part of Allen's wild comedy sketches, often playing a variety of nervous characters interviewed by Allen in his zany "Man on the Street" segments. Working alongside Knotts were other future stars: Louis Nye, Tom Poston, Dayton Allen, Pat Harrington Jr. and Bill Dana.

Frances Bavier (Aunt Bee) who'd begun acting in films in the 1930's, was not a huge name, but had worked in stage and film. Prior to Mayberry, she'd been a member of the cast of the 1957 sitcom The Eve Arden Show. What's often forgotten is that she'd already a co-star in her own sitcom: It's A Great Life which ran from 1954-56 on NBC. It centered around the quirky residents of a boarding house. Bavier played the house's owner Amy Morgan, a role that in some ways foreshadowed Aunt Bee. Here's a clip from Great Life, (Bavier is at 5:40).

Howard McNear (barber Floyd Lawson) had done extensive film work but made his name as Doc Adams in the CBS Radio version of Gunsmoke, which starred William Conrad of Jake and the Fatman fame as Matt Dillon. McNear could be seen playing roles in various TV shows including three interesting guest shots (playing different characters, all of them eccentric) in all three seasons of the1958-1960 detective series Peter Gunn including the quirky but murderous antique dealer Charles Quimby.

Elinor Donahue was Mayberry phramacist and Andy Taylor girlfriend Ellie Walker and left after the first season. She'd made her name on the 50's sitcom Father Knows Best as Betty Anderson, the eldest of Robert Young's and Jane Wyatt's three kids.

Hal Smith (Otis Campbell) had done guest roles in 1950's sitcoms and voiceovers for cartoons before he ever got the part. Post-Andy, he continued doing extensive voice work until shortly before he died in 1994.

Howard Morris (Ernest T. Bass) was an icon of 50's TV comedy as part of the ensemble cast of Sid Caesar's pioneering sketch comedy program Your Show of Shows. There, the classically trained Morris worked alongside three comedic giants: Caesar, Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner as well as the gifted comedic actress Imogene Coca.. Morris also directed four Griffith Show episodes, and collided with the volatile Bavier on one he directed (read on).

Betty Lynn (Thelma Lou) had been a contract player at 20th Century Fox and a series regular on the 1953-54 sitcom Where's Raymond? starring Ray Bolger and appeared in a variety of guest roles before joining the Griffith Show as Barney's girlfriend from 1961-1965, until Don Knotts left the show to do movie work. Lynn now resides in Mt. Airy, NC, Griffith's hometown and the inspiration for Mayberry.

George Lindsey (Goober Pyle) had a B.A. from what's now the University of North Alabama before jumping into acting during his time in the Air Force. He'd done various guest roles in various TV series, including a roles on two episodes of the dramatic anthology The Alfred Hitchcock Hour revealing a considerably wider range as an actor, one portraying an individual of diminished mental abilities, another playing a blackmailing cab driver who gets murdered for his trouble.

Aneta Corsaut (Helen Crump) did a ton of guest spots on episodes of various TV series in the 50's and early 60's including (among many) Death Valley Days, Hennesey, Zane Grey Theater and Johnny Ringo. But her first significant role was appearing in the 1955 low-rent horror flick The Blob alongside a then-unknown Steve McQueen. Later, she continued guest roles on any number of sitcoms and TV dramas including Return to Mayberry, the 1986 Griffith reunion movie and seven guest appearances with Andy on Matlock.

Parley Baer, (Mayor Stoner) Mayberry's iascible, officious Mayor originally portrayed Matt Dillon's deputy, Chester Good, on the radio Gunsmoke (the role Dennis Weaver had on TV). Baer was a veteran character actor also known for his appearences on TV shows like the original Dragnet, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet and The Addams Family.

If you wonder why I excluded Jim Nabors (Gomer), it's because he didn't have extensive showbiz experience before Griffith discovered him singing in a Southern California club. He was an aspiring singer and entertainer without a lot of experience. His appearance as Gomer was to be a one-off, but he went over so well he became a regular. His real experience began with the Griffith Show.

Off-camera, Aunt Bee was a LOT less lovable.

It's true Frances Bavier owned the role of Aunt Bee and that no one else could have done it justice as she did, but that doesn't alter history. While Andy was always circumspect, he never denied she could be difficult. Documentaries about the Griffith Show revealed Bavier off camera was an insufferable prima donna, complaining about the writing and carrying on like a diva, not a supporting cast member. The producers were not fond of her or her attitude. One account has her erupting at Howard Morris when he directed an episode and told her where to stand (which is, after all, what directors are there to do). He tells the story below.

Bavier had no right to play the prima donna. Not only did the show jump-start her modest career (despite It's A Great Life) the show's writing for Aunt Bee, like all the other regulars, was of consistently high quality. In a 1973 interview, after she relocated to the Mayberry-like Siler City, NC, she griped of the general public's assumption she was Bee Taylor, though she also was quick to acknowledge Andy's creative skills. In a poignant interview for the Griffith Show documentary that ran on TV Land's Inside TV Land documentary, Andy revealed he got a call from Bavier before she died in 1989, apologizing for her bad behavior way back when.

Andy used his power of ownership to improve the show in a big way.

It's a well known fact that Don Knotts, impressed with the Griffith Show pilot, called Andy and suggested that Sheriff Taylor needed a deputy. Andy took care of the rest, and Don's reputation from the Steve Allen Show surely didn't hurt. Griffith disagreed with Sheldon Leonard's insistence the show have a mayor as a nemesis for Andy Taylor, but agreed to try it out. Everyone soon saw Griffith was right. Parley Baer's appearances ended--no harm done. Adding Knotts changed the dynamic of the show and made it the timeless masterpiece it is. In the pilot, Andy himself does the comic turns as Andy Taylor, playing off Danny Thomas. When Knotts joined the cast, Andy Taylor became a reactor, the perfect straight man to play off Barney's screwups and wild aspirations.

Griffith also realized how the absence of one cast member could throw off that well-oiled dynamic. Griffith Show fans, even those fairly new, note major differences between Howard McNear as Floyd in the first two seasons, and the less animated, active Floyd in later seasons. The reason, known to most, but not all is that McNear had a serious stroke in December of 1962. It didn't greatly affect his speech, but his overall mobility was significantly impaired.

Feeling Floyd pivotal to the show's comic flow, Andy wanted him back and McNear wanted to return. After recovering as best he could, McNear returned. He often worked seated or through off-camera tricks, appeared to move, stand and cut hair. McNear left the show in 1967 and died in 1969.

You can hear Griffith and Howard Morris discuss Bavier (with a clip from a 70's Bavier interview), as well as Nabors and McNear, on this clip from the terrific Inside TV Land documentary. All four parts are up on YouTube. By all means, watch all four parts, since most of the cast, plus Ruben speak frankly about the show, including Knotts's departure, Andy's departure and the show's move to Mayberry R.F.D. Here, in Part 4, he discusses the call from Bavier near the end.

The Griffith Show theme was written by an interesting pair, with lyrics by an equally interesting person.

In 1939, while working with the Ray Noble Orchestra, Earle Hagen co-wrote the instrumental standard "Harlem Nocturne" with Dick Rogers as a tribute to the sound of Duke Ellington. In the early 50's Hagen began freelancing as a composer for TV shows, and wrote a number of themes with collaborator Herb Spencer. Since they'd worked on Make Room for Daddy, it was no surprise they ended up writing the Griffith Show theme, and did the whistling part. The song was later titled "The Fishin' Hole" in recognition of the show's opening Andy-Opie scene.

Oh...the lyrics? They were composed by actor Everett Sloane, known for his work in Orson Welles' classic film Citizen Kane. Sloane later did a 1962 Griffith Show guest role as the nasty farmer Jubal Foster. Never heard the lyrics? This is Andy's recorded vocal version.

All that magnificent simplicity you saw, and will continue to see for the rest of your lives in one format or another, including many yet to be invented, stemmed not only from Andy's ability to conjure up small town America, but from his ability to assemble a complex and highly gifted group of creative individuals.