Sheriff Andrew Jackson Taylor is the main character in The Andy Griffith Show, an American sitcom which aired on CBS, (1960-1968). The character made a few appearances in the show's spinoff Mayberry R.F.D. (1968-1971) and appeared in a reunion telemovie Return to Mayberry (1986). The character made his first appearance in an episode of The Danny Thomas Show (February 1960). Andy Taylor appeared in all 249 episodes of The Andy Griffith Show and was played by comedian and actor Andy Griffith. Andrew Taylor or Andy Taylor is the name of: In business and politics: Andrew Taylor Still (1828-1917), considered the father of osteopathic medicine Andrew Taylor Sherman (1821-1901), minor American political figure Andrew Taylor (businessman), Chairman of Leicester City In sport: Andy Taylor (martial arts stuntman) (1986-), UK martial... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Return to Mayberry was a television movie made in 1986 on NBC. The show was a reunion movie for the 1960s American television sitcom The Andy Griffith Show. ... Sheldon Leonard (February 22, 1907 – January 10, 1997) was a pioneering American film and television producer, director, writer, and actor. ... Not to be confused with Andy Griffiths. ... The Andy Griffith Show is an American television series that aired on CBS from October 3rd, 1960 to April 1st, 1968. ... The Danny Thomas Show (known as Make Room for Daddy during the first four seasons ) was a sitcom which ran from 1953 to 1957 on ABC and from 1957 to 1964 on CBS. // Danny Thomas played Danny Williams, a successful comedian and nightclub entertainer. ... Mayberry R.F.D. (R.F.D. is a postal abbreviation for Rural Free Delivery) was a spin-off, or perhaps, more accurately, a direct continuation of The Andy Griffith Show under a new title. ... Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. is an American situation comedy that originally aired on CBS from September 25, 1964 to May 2, 1969. ... Year 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1920 (MCMXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will display 1920) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar). ... Look up Sheriff in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Year 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The United States Postal Inspection Service (or USPIS) is the law enforcement arm of the United States Postal Service. ... Helen Crump is a fictional dramatic character on the American television program The Andy Griffith Show (1960-1968). ... The Andy Griffith Show is an American television series that aired on CBS from October 3rd, 1960 to April 1st, 1968. ... This article is about a genre of comedy. ... This article is about the broadcast network. ... Mayberry R.F.D. (R.F.D. is a postal abbreviation for Rural Free Delivery) was a spin-off, or perhaps, more accurately, a direct continuation of The Andy Griffith Show under a new title. ... The Danny Thomas Show (known as Make Room for Daddy during the first four seasons ) was a sitcom which ran from 1953 to 1957 on ABC and from 1957 to 1964 on CBS. // Danny Thomas played Danny Williams, a successful comedian and nightclub entertainer. ... Not to be confused with Andy Griffiths. ...

Home life

Andy Taylor lives in the fictional, sleepy community of Mayberry, North Carolina. Andy is a single father with one young son, Opie. In the pilot episode of The Andy Griffith Show, viewers learn Andy lost his wife when Opie was "the least little speck of a baby." Andy's Aunt Bee acts as his live-in housekeeper and as surrogate mother/grandmother to Opie. Andy goes fishing with his son and often spends evenings on the front porch strumming his guitar. He sometimes entertains (with reluctance) overnight guests like his Aunt Nora and his Uncle Ollie and often has friends in for Aunt Bee's fried chicken dinners. Andy goes to the movies occasionally, to dinner at Morelli's with friends, and enjoys picnicking at Myers Lake. Mayberry is the name of a fictional town in North Carolina which was the setting for the American television show The Andy Griffith Show. ... Opie Taylor is a fictional dramatic character in the American television program, The Andy Griffith Show which was televised on CBS from October 3, 1960 to April 1, 1968. ... The Danny Thomas Show (known as Make Room for Daddy during the first four seasons ) was a sitcom which ran from 1953 to 1957 on ABC and from 1957 to 1964 on CBS. // Danny Thomas played Danny Williams, a successful comedian and nightclub entertainer. ... Beatrice Aunt Bee Taylor was a character on the long-running 1960s American television sitcom The Andy Griffith Show and its successor program Mayberry R.F.D. played by Frances Bavier. ...

Work life

In the working world, Andy is Mayberry's sheriff and justice of the peace. Andy has a bumbling deputy named Barney Fife and, in the color seasons, another bumbling deputy named Warren Ferguson. When business is slow at the courthouse, Andy can be found playing checkers with Barney, sitting in front of the barber shop chewing the fat with idlers, playing pranks, or conducting personal errands. He occasionally leaves Mayberry to attend work related conferences or functions in Mt. Pilot or Raleigh. In a four-part color saga, film producers plan a feature film around Andy's sheriffing life and the Taylors travel to Hollywood to witness the proceedings. A 1963 episode "High Noon in Mayberry" mentions that Taylor has been a sheriff at least since 1952 -- an occasion when he had to use a gun to wound a robber. Look up Sheriff in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A justice of the peace (JP) is a puisne judicial officer appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. ... Deputy Barney Fife from The Andy Griffith Show Bernard Barney Fife[1] was the fictional deputy sheriff in the American TV sitcom The Andy Griffith Show. ...

Community life

Andy is mildly active in the community. He serves on the town council, sings in the civic choir, judges a beauty contest, and acts in a Founders Day pageant. He often serves on social committees, attends community functions like dances, plays with the town band, and participates in organizing high school reunions. He attends church, helps select the church's new organ, and serves on the church's finance committee.

Overview

The premiere episode of the Andy Griffith Show begins with Andy telling Opie he was raised by Aunt Bee, who is about to return to Mayberry after a five year sojourn in Morgantown, WV. Being raised by Aunt Bee suggests that Andy was orphaned at an early age, though there is very little evidence offered on the show about Andy's childhood or his family. In one or two instances, old timers remember Andy as boy. He seems to have no relatives in Mayberry other than his aunt and his son.

Very early in the first season, Barney Fife is mentioned as Andy's cousin but the suggestion is dropped after the seventh episode -- perhaps because the producers realized the relationship smacked of nepotism in the management of the sheriff's department.

Andy went to school in Mayberry and graduated from Mayberry Union High in 1945. His first job was working in the movie theater.

In the first season episode, "A Feud is a Feud", Andy mentions service in the armed forces in France during WWII. As Andy graduated in June 1945 and WWII ended in Europe in May 1945, Andy couldn't have seen action on a battlefield in Europe. When the show begins in 1960, Opie is six and thus his birth occurred in 1954. Andy may have married in 1952, the same year he apparently became sheriff.

Andy was depicted as a country-smart sheriff and a caring, nurturing father. His laid-back approach to law enforcement made him an ideal sheriff for the sleepy town. Andy had his finger on the pulse of the community and Mayberry saw little native crime, with the exception of moonshining. Out-of-town bank robbers, scam artists, thieving vagrants and other miscreants frequently passed through the area to practice their evil deeds but were no match for the wily sheriff. Revenue men at the site of moonshine stills, Kentucky, 1911 or earlier For other uses, see Moonshine (disambiguation). ...

Sheriff Taylor regularly used reverse psychology on people making them see the "error of their ways". He would reproof transgressors by enabling them to draw their own moral conclusions. Andy had a keen eye for booby traps, and often shielded Barney from both career and social landmines. Reverse psychology is the term that describes the outcome where advocacy of one course of action persuades another person to do the opposite. ...

Andy's romances

Andy had several love interests through the show's run, but his first romantic relationship on the series is Ellie Walker (Elinor Donahue), a newcomer to town who works in her uncle's drug store. Ellie made 12 appearances in the first season and then disappeared without explanation to the viewer. (Donahue once stated in an interview that she left because she felt she had no chemistry with series star Andy Griffith. Griffith later admitted that it was his fault because he had a hard time showing affection on screen, and as a result, the relationship did not appear to be real or believable.) 1 In Season 2, Andy dated a few ladies including 2 nurses: Mary Simpson and Peggy McMillan. Peggy chalked up 4 appearances on the show. Elinor Donahue (born April 19, 1937 in Tacoma, Washington) is an American actress. ...

The producers created a long-term love interest in school teacher, Helen Crump. Helen made her first appearance in the third season and remained Andy's girlfriend throughout the rest of the series. The two were eventually married in the first Mayberry RFD episode in 1968. The newlywed Taylors remained in Mayberry to be featured on several episodes of the spinoff series. Their departure (and Opie's) is explained during the second season, when Howard Sprague reads a letter about the family's relocation. Andy and Helen returned to "Mayberry RFD" for their son Andrew Samuel Taylor, Jr.'s christening in 1969, and in 1986 returned for the made-for-TV reunion movie Return to Mayberry. The movie explained that Andy has retired as Postal Inspector in Cleveland, Ohio and returned home to seek the office of sheriff again. Helen Crump is a fictional dramatic character on the American television program The Andy Griffith Show (1960-1968). ... Mayberry R.F.D. was a spinoff from The Andy Griffith Show. ... Return to Mayberry was a television movie made in 1986 on NBC. The show was a reunion movie for the 1960s American television sitcom The Andy Griffith Show. ... Cleveland redirects here. ...

Miscellanea

Some continuity slip-ups can be expected, as the series ran eight years and had several writers. One major oversight revolves around the Andy-Barney cousin relationship. Early in season one, the two were cousins, but after the seventh episode, the connection is never mentioned again -- probably because producers realized the cousin relationship in the sheriff's department smacked of nepotism. Another illustration is with the various middle names given for both Andy and Barney. Andy's middle name was given as Jackson on his own show (when his high school yearbook photo was shown). Andy's second-born son's name, however, is given as "Andrew Samuel Taylor Jr." at his "Mayberry RFD" christening.

Trivia

• One episode had Andy and Barney finding their old high school yearboooks—the pictures are that of Andy Griffith and Don Knotts actual high school portraits.
• The police officer assisting Mulder and Scully in the X-Files episode "Home" is named Sheriff Andy Taylor. His Deputy is called Barney...Parsons.
• In 2006, a William Harold Fenrick, who had legally changed his name to Andrew Jackson Griffith, ran for Grant County sheriff in southwestern Wisconsin. He came in a distant third, but Andy Griffith sued him because during campaigning, the candidate played up the connection of his new name to the TV character. The suit was dismissed by U.S. District Judge John Shabaz on May 4, 2007.Judge: Sheriff Andy no harm to actor