List of The Andy Griffith Show characters

The following is a list of characters of The Andy Griffith Show, an American sitcom television series, starring Andy Griffith. The series ran for eight seasons on CBS between October 3, 1960, and April 1, 1968. Episodes 1–159 (1960–1965) were broadcast in black-and-white, while the last 90 episodes (1965–1968) were in color.

While the characters of the fictional community of Mayberry were often stereotypes, they were generally portrayed as "uncomplicated" human beings who genuinely cared about each other.[1]

Character Actor Brief Description Seasons Episodes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Andy Taylor Andy Griffith Sheriff of Mayberry; father (widowed) of Opie Main 249[2]
Opie Taylor Ronny Howard Son of Andy Taylor Main 243
Barney Fife Don Knotts Deputy Sheriff of Mayberry Main Guest 162
Aunt Bee Frances Bavier Andy's paternal aunt Main[a] 188
Emma Watson[b] Cheerio Meredith A townsperson Recurring Does not appear 6
Jud Fletcher Burt Mustin Elderly citizen of Mayberry Recurring Guest Does not appear Guest Does not appear Guest Does not appear 8[c]
Otis Campbell Hal Smith The town drunk who lets himself into the jail to sleep it off Recurring Guest Does not appear 32[3]
Mayor Pike Dick Elliott Mayor of Mayberry Recurring Does not appear 11
Ellie Walker Elinor Donahue Pharmacist, Andy's girlfriend Main[d] Does not appear 12
Floyd Lawson[e] Howard McNear[f] Town barber Recurring Does not appear 80
Thelma Lou Betty Lynn Barney's primary girlfriend Guest Recurring Guest Does not appear 26
Clara Edwards[g] Hope Summers Aunt Bee's best friend Guest Recurring Does not appear 31
Ben Weaver Will Wright/Tol Avery/Jason Johnson Miserly old landlord and department store owner Guest[h] Does not appear Guest[i] Does not appear Guest[j] Does not appear 6
Rafe Hollister Jack Prince Local farmer and moonshiner Does not appear Guest Does not appear 3
Leon Clint Howard Toddler in a cowboy outfit; never speaks in any of his appearances Does not appear Guest Does not appear 5
John Masters Olan Soule Choir director and hotel manager Does not appear Guest Does not appear 5
Mayor Roy Stoner Parley Baer Mayor of Mayberry Does not appear Recurring Does not appear 7
Peggy McMillan Joanna Moore County nurse and Andy's girlfriend Does not appear Recurring Does not appear 4
Daphne Jean Carson One of "The Fun Girls" Does not appear Guest Does not appear 3
Skippy Joyce Jameson One of "The Fun Girls" Does not appear Guest Does not appear 3
Wally Norman Leavitt/Trevor Bardette/Cliff Norton Owner of the filling station where Gomer and Goober work Does not appear Guest Does not appear Guest Does not appear 4
Gomer Pyle Jim Nabors Mechanic at Wally's Filling Station Does not appear Recurring Does not appear 23[4]
Asa Breeney Charles P. Thompson Elderly, sleepy security guard / hotel clerk Does not appear Guest Does not appear 5
Reverend Hobart M. Tucker William Keene Pastor of All Souls Church Does not appear Guest Does not appear Guest 6
Helen Crump Aneta Corsaut School teacher and Andy's girlfriend Does not appear Recurring 66
Johnny Paul Jason Richard Keith Opie's best friend Does not appear Guest Recurring Guest Does not appear 11
Briscoe Darling Denver Pyle Head of The Darlings Does not appear Guest Does not appear Guest Does not appear 5
Charlene Darling Maggie Peterson Briscoe Darling's daughter. Had a crush on Andy. Does not appear Guest Does not appear Guest Does not appear 5
The Darling Boys The Dillards Musical brothers Does not appear Guest Does not appear Guest Does not appear 5
Ernest T. Bass Howard Morris A troublemaking mountain man Does not appear Guest Does not appear 5[5]
Malcolm Merriweather Bernard Fox English valet Does not appear Guest Does not appear Guest Does not appear 3
Trey Bowden David Alan Bailey Opie's friend Does not appear Guest Does not appear 3
Goober Pyle[k] George Lindsey Auto mechanic and cousin of Gomer Pyle Does not appear Guest Recurring 86
Deputy Warren Ferguson Jack Burns Floyd's nephew; replaces Barney as deputy Does not appear Recurring Does not appear 11
Flora Malherbe Alberta Nelson[l] A waitress at the Mayberry Diner, Goober's girlfriend Does not appear Guest Does not appear Guest 3
Howard Sprague Jack Dodson[m] The milquetoast county clerk Does not appear Recurring 37
Emmett Clark Paul Hartman Fix-it shop owner Does not appear Recurring 16
Martha Clark Mary Lansing Emmett's wife Does not appear Recurring 3
Sam Jones Ken Berry Widowed farmer and father of Mike Jones Does not appear Recurring 4

Characters are listed in order of their initial appearance. Only characters who appeared in 3 or more episodes are listed. For other characters, see The Andy Griffith Show guest stars.

Legend
  = Main cast (credited)
  = Recurring cast (3+ episodes per season)
  = Guest cast (1-2 episodes per season)

Unseen regular characters

Name Seasons Brief character summary
Sarah 1–8 Mayberry telephone operator who often eavesdrops on calls and has brief conversations with characters in at least 19 episodes
Juanita Beasley 1–5 Waitress at the Bluebird Diner who Barney talks to on the telephone as his second girlfriend in ten episodes. First mentioned in S1E26 "Andy Forecloses".
Leonard Blush 4–5 Radio announcer from station YLRB, later WMPD, from Mount Pilot, in "Family Visits" and "Barney's Bloodhound" whose voice is that of Howard Morris, who is also referred to by name in "The Song Festers"

Notes

  1. ^ While Frances Bavier is not included in the main credits until the color seasons, she is included as main cast in this list due to the number of episodes she appears in each season. All other characters listed recurring or guest are based on their episode count as none of them appear in the opening credits.
  2. ^ Emma Watson is also named Emma Brand
  3. ^ Burt Mustin was in a total of 14 episodes; only episodes where he was Jud Fletcher are counted here.
  4. ^ Elinor Donahue only appeared in 12 episodes in the first season, but received billing in the opening credits
  5. ^ Floyd Lawson was initially "Floyd Colby"
  6. ^ The first appearance of Floyd was played by Walter Baldwin
  7. ^ Clara Edwards was also referred to as Bertha Edwards, Bertha Johnson, and Clara Johnson
  8. ^ Will Wright played Ben Weaver in "The Christmas Story", "Andy Forecloses", and "The Merchant of Mayberry"
  9. ^ Tol Avery played Ben Weaver in "The Shoplifters"
  10. ^ Jason Johnson played Ben Weaver in "Aunt Bee Takes a Job" and "Goober's Replacement"
  11. ^ Goober Pyle's last name is initially introduced as Goober Beasley
  12. ^ Nelson first appeared as Nettie, a classmate who had a crush on Barney, in "The Return of Barney Fife"; appeared credited as "Waitress" in the Mayberry RFD episode "Emmett's Retirement"
  13. ^ Jack Dodson first appeared on the show as Andy's insurance agent, Ed Jenkins

References

  1. ^ Kelly 1981, p. 5.
  2. ^ Harrison & Habeeb 1994, p. 17.
  3. ^ Harrison & Habeeb 1994, p. 130.
  4. ^ Harrison & Habeeb 1994, p. 76.
  5. ^ Harrison & Habeeb 1994, p. 136.

Sources

  • Harrison, Dan; Habeeb, Bill (1994). Inside Mayberry. HarperPerennial. ISBN 978-0-06-096990-5.
  • Kelly, Richard Michael (1981). The Andy Griffith Show. J. F. Blair. ISBN 0895870436.