Good Ol’ Mayberry: Behind The Scenes Info, Shocking Scandals, And More

A Television First

During this time of television history, there were still few, if any, roles for African Americans. While The Andy Griffith Show did feature many African Americans as extras who appeared in the background scenes none of them had a speaking role. One man was able to break the cycle, however, by the name of Rockne Tarkington.

Rockne appeared on the episode “Opie’s Piano Lesson“ and actually had lines. He was the only Black actor to have lines throughout the entire series of The Andy Griffith Show. He continued to act for many years, including in TV shows and Blaxpoitation films of the 1970s. He died in 2015, at age 83.

Real-Life Nods to Nicknames and Hometowns

If you pay attention during the show you will notice that Barney usually calls Andy by the nickname Ange. This is actually a real life nickname of Andy Griffith, he combined both Andy and Griffith to get the name, kind of like the Brangelina of its day, only for one person. The nickname became such a habit that they decided to use it throughout filming as well.

While Andy Griffith was from North Carolina, he always denied that the fictional town Mayberry was based on his hometown of Mount Airy. However, in one episode, called A Black Day for Mayberry, the character of Barney picks up a phone book that is sitting on the Sheriff’s desk and flips through the pages. On the phone book’s cover you can make out the words “Mount Airy.” It was allegedly the real phone book for Mount Airy, North Carolina.