United StatesActor Andy Griffith, whose portrayal of small-town sheriff Andy Taylor made The Andy Griffith Show one of television's most enduring shows, died yesterday aged 86 at his North Carolina home.
Griffith died at about 7am at his house on Roanoke Island, Dare County sheriff JD Doughtie said. His wife of three decades, Cindi Griffith, was at his bedside and issued a statement saying: “I cannot imagine life without Andy, but I take comfort and strength in God’s grace and in the knowledge that Andy is at peace and with God.”
Griffith created another memorable TV character, the folksy defence lawyer in Matlock in the 1980s and 1990s, but it was his role as sheriff Andy Taylor in the 1960s that gave him a place in television history. – (Reuters)