Andy Griffith: Hollywood's Homespun Hero
Episode 2 · 1997-01-16

- Documentary
Episode overview
Born in Mount Airy, North Carolina, Andy Griffith started studying to become a preacher, but then changed to music and drama. All of these pursuits worked to launch his career with a preacher act. He went on to play Sir Walter Raleigh with a British accent. But it was his folksy, down-home North Carolina accent that made him a star. First in his triumphant Broadway show, No Time for Sergeants, and then his acclaimed role in A Face in the Crowd. His career spanned the decades in radio, stage, TV and film. His long-running TV comedy series as a southern sheriff in "The Andy Griffith Show" established him as a television icon. Today he is best known for his portrayal of small-town lawyer on the popular television series, Matlock. Biography takes a look back at the life of one of the most popular and endearing stars in American television.
60 minutes
Season 6 episodes
1. Anastasia: Her True Story1997-01-09
2. Andy Griffith: Hollywood's Homespun Hero1997-01-16
3. Augustus: First of the Emperors1997-01-23
4. Ayatollah Khomeini: Holy Terror1997-01-30
5. Caligula: Reign of Madness1997-02-06
6. Charles Kuralt: A Life on the Road1997-02-13
7. Constantine: The Christian Emperor1997-02-20
8. David Copperfield: Master of Illusion1997-02-27
9. Diana: The People's Princess1997-03-06
10. Dow and Jones: Wizards of Wall Street1997-03-13
11. Dutch Schultz: Menace to Society1997-03-20
12. Edgar Cayce: The Sleeping Psychic1997-03-27
13. Edward R. Murrow: Voice of America1997-04-03
14. Eliot Ness: Untouchable1997-04-10
15. Elizabeth I: The Virgin Queen1997-04-17
16. Elizabeth: The Reluctant Monarch1997-04-24
17. Erwin Rommel: The Last Knight1997-05-01
18. F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Great American Dreamer1997-05-08
19. Frank Costello: Prime Minister of the Mob1997-05-15
20. General George C. Marshall: Soldier and Statesman1997-05-22
21. George Armstrong Custer: America's Golden Cavalier1997-05-29
22. Hadrian: Emperor of the Golden Age1997-06-05
23. Ivan the Terrible: Might and Madness1997-06-12
24. J.C. Penney: Main Street Millionaire1997-06-19
25. JFK: A Personal Story1997-06-26
26. Jimmy Stewart: His Wonderful Life1997-07-03
27. Joseph Kennedy, Sr.: Father of an American Dynasty1997-07-10
28. Julius Caesar: Master of the Roman World1997-07-17
29. Justinian: The Last of the Romans1997-07-24
30. Katharine Graham: Pillar of the Post1997-07-31
31. Leonardo Da Vinci: Renaissance Master1997-08-07
32. Lucrezia Borgia: Pretty Poison1997-08-14
33. Martin Luther King, Jr.: The Man and the Dream1997-08-21
34. Meyer Lansky: Mob Tycoon1997-08-28
35. Mother Teresa: A Life of Devotion1997-09-04
36. Nancy Reagan: The President's Leading Lady1997-09-11
37. Neiman Marcus: Last of the Merchant Kings1997-09-18
38. Nelson Rockefeller: Passionate Millionaire1997-09-25
39. Nero: The Power and the Madness1997-10-02
40. Pancho Villa: Outlaw Hero1997-10-09
41. R.H. Macy: Merchant Prince1997-10-16
42. Sam Giancana1997-10-23
43. Sam Walton: Bargain Billionaire1997-10-30
44. Samuel Bronfman: Whiskey Man1997-11-06
45. Sigmund Freud: Analysis of a Mind1997-11-13
46. Stanley & Livingstone: The Mercenary and the Missionary1997-11-20
47. The Gambinos: First Family of Crime1997-09-21
48. The Marshall Fields: A Chicago Tradition1997-12-04
49. The Woolworths: Five-and-Dime Fortune and Failure1997-12-11
50. Thurgood Marshall: Justice for All1997-12-18
51. Vladimir Lenin: Voice of the Revolution1997-12-25