Born a Century Ago Today in North Carolina, This Grammy-Winning Gospel Singer and Everyone’s Favorite Sheriff

With his boyish grin and homespun, folksy humor, he captured hearts nationwide as Andy Taylor, sheriff of the fictional Mayberry, North Carolina. Born on June 1, 1926, in Mount Airy, North Carolina, Andy Griffith etched his name into television history, starring in CBS’ aforementioned Andy Griffith Show and the NBC legal drama Matlock. However, fewer people may know that the beloved entertainer also found success in music, even winning a Grammy Award in 1999. Today, we’re peering into Andy Griffith’s lesser-known singing career on what would have marked his 100th birthday.

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A Look at Andy Griffith’s Life in Music

Like many performers, music was a common thread in Griffith’s life. He was part of the brass band at church, where minister Ed Mickey taught him to play the trombone and sing.

Upon his 1944 graduation from Mount Airy High School, Andy Griffith headed to the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Initially aiming to become a Moravian preacher like Mickey, he soon changed his major to music and joined the Carolina PlayMakers theater group.

After earning his bachelor’s degree, Griffith even taught music and drama for a few years at North Carolina’s Goldsboro High School.

He showed off his music skills in the 1959 Broadway musical Destry Rides Again, earning a Tony Award nomination for Distinguished Musical Actor. His breakout role as a singing, guitar-playing drifter in the 1957 drama A Face in the Crowd also required Griffith to make use of his vocal talents.

Music was also a major part of The Andy Griffith Show, as Griffith would often break out into song on set with his co-star, Don Knotts.

 “We would sing hymns in the jail while we were dusting, sweeping and different things,” he said in a 1998 interview in conjunction with The Television Academy Foundation.

He Recorded Several Albums

In addition to recording his comic monologues in the 1950s, Andy Griffith also put out several albums featuring country and gospel music. As his eponymous show was still airing, he recorded a version of the theme song with the original lyrics under the title “The Fishin’ Hole.”

In 1996, Griffith released an album of classic Christian hymns, I Love to Tell the Story – 25 Timeless Hymns. Certified platinum by the RIAA, the album also won a Grammy Award for Best Southern Gospel, Country gospel or Bluegrass Gospel Album.

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A member of both the Country Gospel Music Hall of Fame and the Christian Music Hall of Fame, Andy Griffith died from a heart attack at his home in Manteo, North Carolina, on July 3, 2012. He was 86 years old.

Featured image by ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images