Remembering Andy Griffith onstage

Though best remembered for his small-screen starring roles on “The Andy Griffith Show”and “Matlock,” the late Andy Griffith also enjoyed some stage time early in his career.

Before he was Sheriff Andy Taylor keeping watch on Mayberry, Griffith starred as Private Will Stockdale in the 1955 Air Force comedy “No Time for Sergeants,” which ran for nearly 800 performances until 1957 and also marked the Broadway debut for Griffiths’ future TV costar, Don Knotts.

The play was based on a novel by Mac Hyman, which was adapted for the stage by Ira Levin (who would go on to write the novel”Rosemary’s Baby”). Griffith was nominated for a Tony that year for featured actor but did not win.

Photos: Andy Griffith | 1926 - 2012

“No Time” was successful enough to be adapted into a movie in 1958, which also featured Griffith, but he was not on board as the story returned in the ‘60s as a television series.

Griffith’s second Broadway turn came in the musical comedy “Destry Rides Again,” which featured the actor in the title role, joined by Dolores Gray. “Destry” was a musical adaptation of the original 1939 film, which starred Jimmy Stewart and Marlene Dietrich.

The production opened in spring 1959 but closed the following summer. Griffith did not return to the stage, but given the five decades of roles in movies and television he went on to be a part of, he might have been short on time.

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