Many child actors fade away or move to different careers in adulthood, but not Ron Howard. His remarkable run as actor and director gained momentum as Opie, the sheriff’s son, in “The Andy Griffith Show” (1960-68). Seventeen episodes plus Griffith’s introductory appearance on Danny Thomas’ “Make Room for Daddy” have been collected on a DVD set, “The Andy Griffith Show 50th Anniversary: The Best of Mayberry.”
The situations in this classic sitcom are amusing, predictable and almost of secondary significance. Charactercom might be a better a better term for a program whose strength was the well-developed personalities of the supporting as well as the leading characters. Griffith, who played the sheriff of the rural Southern town of Mayberry a bit too broadly in the earliest episodes, soon modulated his performance. He was a benign lawman keeping order without a gun, an avuncular fountain of common sense and decency. His jail seemed to operate on the honor system. The keys hung on a nail in reach of the cells.
Don Knotts provides contrast as the deputy, Barney Fife. A rubber faced runt with bug eyes, Knotts was hilarious as an official desperately trying to fill shoes of authority three times his size. Petulant and a stickler for rules, Fife was an insecure but essentially good man who could easily have turned bully if so led. Fortunately for Mayberry, he was guided by the wisdom of a sheriff relying on moral suasion—an appeal to good sense and community—rather than force or even the law itself.
And Opie? Well, he was a just a bright kid but the boy behind the role coupled determination with good breaks. He was one of the stars of George Lucas’ classic, American Graffiti (1973), which led to the role of Richie Cunningham in “Happy Days” (1974-80). From there, Howard became one of Hollywood’s hottest directors in the ‘80s. “The Andy Griffith Show” is where most of us first caught sight of him.
