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CNN Saturday Morning News

Andy Griffith Honored in North Carolina

Aired June 16, 2001 - 09:55   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BRIAN NELSON, CNN ANCHOR: Well, from "Mayberry" to "Matlock," Andy Griffith has been a TV fixture for years now.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: You're starting to have a little Southern accent. I heard it.

North Carolina's favorite son is being featured in a new exhibit at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

Rick Armstrong (ph) of affiliate WRAL reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAURA BAXLEY, NORTH CAROLINA COLLECTION GALLERY: People visit the gallery. They know that Andy Griffith is a graduate of the university. And we often get questions about him and his career.

RICK ARMSTRONG, WRAL REPORTER (voice-over): These images may answer many of the questions visitors have about Andy Griffith, what he looked like as a boy growing up in Mount Airy, North Carolina, the roles he played as a member of UNC's Playmakers Repertory Company.

BAXLEY: And it's a great shot, because he's in full costume. And if someone hadn't told me it was Andy Griffith, I probably never would have known that.

ARMSTRONG: Mostly, the photographs and artifacts tell the story of a career born on this campus, where Griffith was forced to remap his career goals.

BAXLEY: In fact, he disliked his sociology class so much that he walked out and took an F in it. And that of course pretty much ended his dreams of becoming a Moravian minister.

ARMSTRONG: Griffith took to the stage as an actor and comic. One routine became a record.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP, "WHAT IT WAS, WAS FOOTBALL")

ANDY GRIFFITH, ACTOR: And what I seen was this whole raft of people a-settin' on these two banks, and a-lookin' at one another across this pretty little green cow pasture.

(END AUDIO CLIP) ARMSTRONG: The record inspired a character, which inspired a play, a movie, even a comic book. From stage to film and then to TV, Griffith's career inspired coloring books, trivia games, even a restaurant chain.

BAXLEY: And I think one thing that will stand out most is a can of Andy Griffith Navy Beans.

ARMSTRONG: And people, especially North Carolinians, bought the beans and watched the shows, because Andy was, and still is, one of us.

BAXLEY: He never forgot the fact that he was from North Carolina. He was never afraid to announce that fact and even incorporate it into a lot of his characters.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NELSON: Well, Barney, it was nice to see Barney again, too.

PHILLIPS: Exactly, Don Knotts was one of my favorites. He was -- he's terrific.

NELSON: That exhibit, you were going to say?

PHILLIPS: Runs until August 22.

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