. >> starring with don knotts back in the '60s. griffith died today at the age of 86. americans everywhere are grieving the loss including at the white house. president obama said in a statement. michelle and i were saddened to hear about the passing of andy griffith this morning. the love by generations of forms and revered by entertainers who followed in his footsteps. he brought us characters from sheriff andy taylor to ben matlock and warmed the hearts of americans everywhere. our thoughts and prayers are with andy's family. larry king talked to me earlier about the actor and remember him real fond lly too. have a listen. >> he was a wonderful guest because he answered the question you asked and responded in kind. he did major movies. he did one of the funniest comedy albums made. >> larry king speaking to me in the last hour. barbara eden, a television woman appeared on one of my favorite shows. can you hear me? >> i can hear you, yes. >> thank you for speaking with me. i'm sorry for the loss of your friend, and truly he was your friend, not just a colleague and c

a straight man to bumbling don knotts as barney fife. >> just stay calm. >> reporter: widowed fathero son opie played by ron howard. >> guess i did a good job, huh, pa? >> you sure did, son. >> reporter: somehow in the raucous '60s, "the andy griffith show" thrived. a comforting serving of small town america, where values were clear, common sense ruled. the distinction between good and evil unmistakable. >> now, opie, i want you to understand, ordinarily i don't approve of doing things behind folks' backs. >> i get it, pa. >> reporter: still, as griffith once said on "today," mayberry had to be invented. >> though we never said it, it had a feeling of the '30s. it was, when we were doing it, of a time gone by. the show ended its run in 1968 still on top. griffith tried spin-offs, and then had another hit as "matlock," a southern lawyer with homespun wisdom. a character with the same dreams his fans had, said linda purl who played his daughter. >> i guess we all have dreams, and your arena of safety. and maybe that's something he was always yearning for himself. and so he was able to

the straight man to comic don knotts. >> just make sure it clears your underwear. >> and father to a young ron howard. >> he would call me young man. >> a man who elevated the show by playing to a higher standard. >> and he was a little more of a jimmy stewart kind of character. >> howard says to fully appreciate his life, look beyond his biggest roles. >> look at facing the crowd or one of his dramatic turns on tv or in the movies. he was a real artist. >> andy griffith was 86 years old. wjz eyewitness news. >> griffith was awarded the presidential medal of freedom, one of the highest civilian honors in 2005. >> is hard to believe a whole generation of people who are never seen the show. >> go to tv land or whatever it is. >> or blockbuster. >> coming up, a midair meltdown. a pilot rants about jesus and al qaeda. what a federal judge just ruled. >> not your normal rush hour obstacle. a little dog dodging traffic on a busy highway. >> first of its kind program training dogs to help wounded war veterans. wait until you see who is doing the training. that story coming up. >> more 90-de

the straight man to comic don knotts. >> it's easy. >> good.st make sure it clears your underwear. >> right. >> tv father to a young ron howard. >> he would call me youngin. youngin over here. >> howard says he learned a lot from griffith. a man who elevated his show by playing to a higher standard. >> andy was a little more of a jimmy stewart kind of a character than he was a kind of a sitcom dad. >> griffith first hit it big in feature films, including a face in the crowd and no time for sergeants. but it was mayberry that made him a household name. griffith earned a star on hollywood's walk of fame more than 36 years ago. he was nearly 50. his career in television was far from over. >> estella ortiz remembers griffith as the folksy defense attorney in matlock. >> i think we've lost somebody that started a lot of the beginning of good family values at home. >> howard says to fully appreciate griffith's life, look beyond his biggest roles. >> look at face in the crowd or one of his dramatic turns on tv or in the movies. he was a real artist. >

>> reporter: memorable also for a small role by a future collaborator, the late don knotts. >> what we is to evaluate your manual dexterity on a time scale in relation to digital visual coordination. >> reporter: they would work together in what most critics consider one of the top four or five sitcoms ever on television, the andy griffith show spun off from guest appearances griffith made on the old "danny thomas show." for eight years, andy griffith played straight man to mayberry's lovable collection of characters and taught heartwarming lessons, as when sheriff andy taylor's son opie killed a mother bird a slingshot and then was prodded by his father to raise and release the baby birds. >> cage sure looks awful empty, don't it, pa? >> yes, son, it sure does. but don't the trees seem nice and full? >> i tried in story telling and the old griffith show by just telling the story of love. >> reporter: griffith left the show at its peak and went on to another successful run as a defense lawyer in "matlock" and spent his later years recording gospel albums. but andy griffith's down home

andy griffith was the straight man to the likes of don knotts, ron howard and a beloved cast of regulars, noted for it's homespun humor and small town values that was a hit for 8 seasons on the network and in reruns ever since....for the last 41 years, here on wgn. he began as a singer....but took his down-home humor to comedy albums, on broadway, and in the movies. his character as a small town sheriff was first introduced on the old danny thomas show that was spun off and became a tv classic. from 1986-1995, he starred as the southern lawyer who always outsmarted his opponents in his 2nd tv hit, "matlock." in an interview with the archive of american television griffith talked the amazing longevity of the original series. >>all of those fine comedic actors like don and howard and jim ... all of them made it. they represented that little insane border that was made very rfk ..yberry.. wheaton realize how we had such an impact we're just trying to do a good show ... in 2005, when receiving the presidential medal of freedom then-president george w. bush said tv shows come and go, but ther

. >> and don knotts. he and griffith were one of america's most popular comedy duos. >> thank you, reliable barney. >> we didn't know when we started it that it was going to last that long or influence so many people. we were just trying to do a good show. >> reporter: the fictional town was like the town where griffith was born. the blue ridge mountains, june 1926. he grew up singing and playing the guitar. few knew he began his career as a high school music teacher and started performing in the '50s. on broadway and in the movies. he debuts playing a singer from arkansas, in "a face in the crowd." >> you good people ain't so dumb you don't know what's important. >> reporter: decades later he would win over american viewers again as matlock. and won a grammy for an alb of hymns, music, one of his first loves. ♪ >> reporter: and in 2005, griffith received the presidential medal of freedom, president bush thanking him for being such a friendly and beloved presence in our american lives. and tonight the boy

andy griffith was the straight man to the likes of don knotts, ron howard and a beloved cast of regularssmall town values that was a hit for 8 seasons on the network and in reruns ever since....for the last 41 years, here on wgn. he began as a singer....but took his down-home humor to comedy albums, on broadway, and in the movies. his character as a small town sheriff was first introduced on the old danny thomas show that was spun off and became a tv classic. from 1986-1995, he starred as the southern lawyer who always outsmarted his opponents in his 2nd tv hit, "matlock." in an interview with the archive of american television griffith talked the amazing longevity of the original series. -- in 2005, when receiving the presidential medal of freedom then-president george w. bush said tv shows come and go, but there's only one andy griffith." there was no cause of death given. andy griffith was 86 years old. president obama called andy griffith performer of a coronary talent. at home hiv test gets the green light from federal regulators and this quite the story to tell daring adventure of

griffith, along with a young ron howard and don knotts made the show a ratings hit throughout its eight-year run. ron howard, who got his start playing opie with griffith will join us coming up ahead. >>> selling health care. if states aren't going to buy into the medicaid expansion, just how is this program going to work? zeke emanuel joining us right here in aspen. this is "andrea mitchell reports." an accident doesn't have to slow you down... with better car replacement, available only from liberty mutual insurance, if your car is totaled, we give you the money to buy a car that's one model-year newer... with 15,000 fewer miles on it. there's no other auto insurance product like it. better car replacement, available only from liberty mutual. it's a better policy that gets you a better car. call... or visit one of our local offices today, and we'll provide the coverage you need at the right price. liberty mutual auto insurance, responsibility -- what's your policy? what ? customers didn't like it. so why do banks do it ? hello ? hello ?! if your bank doesn't let you talk to a real person 2

the straight man to comic don not -- don knotts. >> he would call me young one.he elevated his show by playing to a higher standard. >> reporter: andy was a little more of a jimmy stewart character than he was a sitcom dad. >> griffith first hit it big in feature films, but it was mayberry that made him a household name. griffith earned a star on hollywood's walk of fame 36 years ago. stella ortiz remembers griffith as the defense attorney in matlock. >> i think we have lost somebody that started a lot of the beginning of good family values at home. >> reporter: howard says to fully appreciate's griffith's life, look beyond his biggest roles. >> look at face in the crowd or one of his dramatic turns. he was a real artist. >> reporter: andy griffith was 86 years old. >>> we begin 9news now at 6:00 a.m. with the latest on our epic storm and of course the aftermath. >> five days after the historic storm blew through, there are still more than 100,000 people without power. at last check pepco had more than 60,000 people off line. >> across the region the cooling cent

his deputy sheriff of course was don knotts. his son of course was opie, that was ron howard. he made ron howard possible. the show ran for eight years in the '60s and never really left the top ten until the end of its run. griffith was forever associated with that figure, iconic figure of home-spun values at a time when there was a clear distinction between good and evil and good always won out through common sense and the right values. funny, in 1996, he gave an interview to matt lauer on the "today" show in which he said even when we were doing the show, it was about an earlier time, maybe the '30s. so an even more remote time where those simple views of a simple life and simple fictional mayberry, north carolina, everything seemed to work out in all those episodes. griffith said we tried to keep all of our characters pure. judging by the way the american television audience reacted to the show, he clearly did that. andy griffith, dead at the age of 86. alex? >> indeed, there is no way you can say the words mayberry or think of opie without smiling. a television legend. >>

most famously sheriff andy's deputy barny fife played by don knotts. >> why are we stopping here?she had to go to mount pilot. we're going to check the locks. >> no we're going to take in her laundry. >> brown: two decades later in 1986 griffith returned to weekly television in matlock. he played a cagey southern lawyer for nine years. >> and he had no idea. he didn't think for a minute that you would kill him first. >> suarez: griffith got his big break in the 1950s after he recorded a comedic mono log, what it was, was football. >> it was that both bunches full of them men wanted this funny looking little pumpkin to play with. >> suarez: that success led to appearances on national television variety shows and then to a role as a hill billy recruit in "no time for sergeants" in 1955. first on broadway, garnering a tony award nomination and later on the big screen. >> listen, ma'am, at home we have a little radio on the porch. whenever it won't walk, pa spits on the back of it and won k-s it a bit and it works every time. there you are. she's a-working. >> ladies and gentlemen, th

. >> your opinion, don knotts was the key to the success of that show. would you elaborate? e was. in the beginning i was supposed to be, don wasn't part of the picture and i was supposed to be funny and tell funny stories about the people in mayberry. when don joined the show, by the second episode, i knew he should be funny and i should play straight form. >> larry king joins me live by telephone and paul campbell. larry, you were one of the first names that popped up as the news crossed our computer. how many interviews had you done with him? how well did you know him? >> i knew him pretty well. i had him on my radio show and television. when i did a national radio show on the mutual network he was a special guest. we had him on cnn the last time. he was always responsive. he was a wonderful guest because he answered the question you asked and he responded in kind. he was also a talented actor way beyond just the roles he did on television. he did major movies. he had an academy award nomination. he did a major play on broadway. he did one of funniest comedy albums made. h

and don knotts as deputy barney fife. >> the thing about the andy griffith show, while not auto buy biographical a show of sensibility. >> reporr: common sense ruled and the distinction between right and wrong was clear. >> i still got duties to protect the folks here in mayberry. >> reporter: as griffith said 16 years ago, mayberry had to be invented >> it had a feeling of the '30s. it was when we were doing it of a time gone by. >> reporter: the show ended its run in 1968, still on top. and griffith had one more hit years later, playing matlock, a southern law with home spun wisdom. he started his career playing a bad guy, the opportunist in "a face in the crowd." >> i could murder like this. >> reporter: but his subsequent run as sheriff andy might have been too successful. >> it was hard for him to break out of that pigeon hole, the show never went away, constantly rerun, of course. and much loved. >> reporter: the fans visiting the griffith museum never needed him to break away from mayberry. >> wholesome more than anything else. it was a different time period. he seemed to embody that bett