Mule
Conservation status
Domesticated
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Perissodactyla
Family:	Equidae
Genus:	Equus
Species:	Equus asinus x Equus caballus
Binomial name
none
Synonyms
Equus mulus

For other uses, see Mule (disambiguation)

A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse.^[1] Horses and donkeys are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes. Of the two F1 hybrids between these two species, a mule is easier to obtain than a hinny (the offspring of a male horse and a female donkey). While there is no known instance of a male mule siring offspring, female mules have on very rare occasion given birth to viable offspring. The size of a mule and work to which it is put depends largely on the breeding of the mule's dam. Mules can be lightweight, medium weight, or even, when produced from draught horse mares, of moderately heavy weight.^[2]

An aficionado of the mule claims that they are "more patient, sure-footed, hardy and long-lived than horses, and they are considered less obstinate, faster, and more intelligent than donkeys."^[3]

A female mule that has estrus cycles and thus, in theory, could carry a fetus, is called a "molly" or "Molly mule," though the term is sometimes used to refer to female mules in general. Pregnancy is rare, but can occasionally occur naturally as well as through embryo transfer. One of several terms for a gelded mule is a "John mule."

Biology[link]

Size and performance[link]

The median weight range for a mule is between about 370 and 460 kg (820 and 1,000 lb).^[4] Although it depends on the individual animal, an army mule can "carry up to 72 kg and walk 26 km without resting."^[5] In general, a mule can be packed with "dead weight" of up to 20% of its body weight, or approximately 90 kg (200 lb).^[6] The average equine in general can carry up to approximately 30% of its body weight in "live" weight, such as a rider.^[7] However, while a few mules can carry live weight up to 160 kg (350 lb) the superiority of the mule becomes apparent in their additional endurance.^[6]

One of the virtues of the mule is that a mule has the size and ground-covering ability of a horse, but is comparatively stronger than a horse of similar size and inherits the endurance and disposition of the donkey father. Mules also tend to be more independent than most other domesticated equines other than the donkey. For their size mules also tend to require less food than a horse of similar size.

Characteristics[link]

A grey mule

Ancient Greek rhyton in the shape of a mule's head, made by Brygos, early 5th century BC. Jérôme Carcopino Museum, Department of Archaeology, Aleria

With its short thick head, long ears, thin limbs, small narrow hooves, and short mane, the mule shares characteristics of a donkey; in height and body, shape of neck and croup, uniformity of coat, and teeth, it appears horse-like; the mule comes in all sizes, shapes and conformities. There are mules that resemble quarter horses, huge draft mules, fine-boned racing mules, shaggy pony mules and many more types.

A mule does not sound exactly like a donkey or a horse. Instead, a mule makes a sound that is similar to a donkey's but also has the whinnying characteristics of a horse (often starts with a whinny, ends in a hee-haw). Sometimes, mules whimper. The coats of mules come in the same varieties as those of horses. Common colors are sorrel, bay, black, and grey. Less common are white, roans (both blue and red), palomino, dun, and buckskin. Least common are paint mules or tobianos.

The mule possesses the even temper, patience, endurance and sure-footedness of the donkey, and the vigor, strength and courage of the horse. Operators of working animals generally find mules preferable to horses: mules show more patience under the pressure of heavy weights, and their skin is harder and less sensitive than that of horses, rendering them more capable of resisting sun and rain. Their hooves are harder than horses', and they show a natural resistance to disease and insects. Many North American farmers with clay soil found mules superior as plow animals.

Mules are generally less tolerant towards dogs than horses are.^{[citation needed]} They are also capable of striking out with any of their hooves in any direction, even sideways if needed.^{[citation needed]}

Mules exhibit a higher cognitive intelligence than their parent species. This is believed to be the result of hybrid vigor, similar to how mules acquire greater height and endurance than either parent.^[8]

Mules are highly intelligent. They tend to be curious by nature. A mule generally will not let the rider put it in harm's way.^{[citation needed]}

Color and size variety[link]

Mules come in a variety of shapes, sizes and colors, from minis under 50 lb (20 kg) to maxis over 1,000 lb (500 kg), and in many different colors. Mules from Appaloosa mares produce wildly colored mules, much like their Appaloosa horse relatives, but with even wilder skewed colors. The Appaloosa color is produced by a complex of genes known as the Leopard complex (Lp). Mares homozygous for the Lp gene bred to any color donkey will produce an Appaloosa colored mule.

Distribution[link]

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reports that China was the top market for mules in 2003, closely followed by Mexico and many Central and South American nations.

Fertility[link]

Mules and hinnies have 63 chromosomes, a mixture of the horse's 64 and the donkey's 62. The different structure and number usually prevents the chromosomes from pairing up properly and creating successful embryos, rendering most mules infertile.

There are no recorded cases of fertile mule stallions. A few female mules have produced offspring when mated with a purebred horse or donkey.^[9][10] Herodotus gives an account of such an event as an ill omen of Xerxes' conquest of Greece in 480 BC: "There happened also a portent of another kind while he was still at Sardis,—a mule brought forth young and gave birth to a mule" (Herodotus The Histories 7:57).

Since 1527 there have been more than 60 documented cases of foals born to female mules around the world.^[9] There are reports that a mule in China produced a foal in 1984.^[11][12] In Morocco, in early 2002, a mare mule produced a rare foal.^[9] In 2007 a mule named Kate gave birth to a mule son in Colorado.^[13][14] Blood and hair samples were tested verifying that the mother was a mule and the colt was indeed her offspring.

Modern mules[link]

An "Appaloosa" mule

A pair of mules working a plowing exhibition at The Farnsley-Moreman House in Louisville, Kentucky

Mule moving goods in the car-free Medina in Fes, Morocco

In the second half of the 20th century, widespread usage of mules declined in industrialized countries. The use of mules for farming and transportation of agricultural products largely gave way to modern tractors and trucks. However, in the United States, a dedicated number of mule breeders continued the tradition as a hobby and continued breeding the great lines of American Mammoth Jacks started in the United States by George Washington with the gift from the King of Spain of two Catalan donkeys. These hobby breeders began to utilize better mares for mule production until today's modern saddle mule emerged. Exhibition shows where mules pulled heavy loads have now been joined with mules competing in Western and English pleasure riding, as well as dressage and show jumping competition. There is now a cable TV show dedicated to the training of donkeys and mules. Mules, once snubbed at traditional horse shows, have been accepted for competition at the most exclusive horse shows in the world in all disciplines.

Mules are still used extensively to transport cargo in rugged roadless regions, such as the large wilderness areas of California's Sierra Nevada mountains. Commercial pack mules are used recreationally, such as to supply mountaineering base camps, and also to supply trail building and maintenance crews, and backcountry footbridge building crews.^[15] There are still at least sixteen commercial mule pack stations in business in the Sierra Nevada.^[16] The Angeles chapter of the Sierra Club has a Mule Pack Section that organizes hiking trips with supplies carried by mules.^[17]

Amish farmers, who reject tractors and most other modern technology for religious reasons, commonly use teams of six or eight mules to pull plows, diskers, and other farm equipment, though they use horses for pulling buggies on the road.

During the Soviet war in Afghanistan, the United States used large numbers of mules to carry weapons and supplies over Afghanistan's rugged terrain to the mujahideen.^[18] Use of mules by U.S. forces has continued during the War in Afghanistan (2001-present), and the United States Marine Corps now conducts an 11-day Animal Packers Course at its Mountain Warfare Training Center located in the Sierra Nevada near Bridgeport, California.

Mule clone[link]

In 2003, researchers at University of Idaho and Utah State University produced the first mule clone as part of Project Idaho.^[19] The research team includes Gordon Woods, UI professor of animal and veterinary science, Kenneth L. White, USU professor of animal science, and Dirk Vanderwall, UI assistant professor of animal and veterinary science. The baby mule, Idaho Gem, was born May 4. It is the first clone of a hybrid animal. Veterinary examinations of the foal and its surrogate mother showed them to be in good health soon after birth. The foal's DNA comes from a fetal cell culture first established in 1998 at the University of Idaho.

See also[link]

• 40 acres and a mule
• African Wild Ass
• Donkey
• Horse
• Hinny
• Jennet
• Kiang
• Onager

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mules

Look up mule in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• British Mule Society
• A case of a mule giving birth
• Supply Mules in Kashmir
• Project Idaho
• Western Mule Magazine
• The American Donkey and Mule Society, registers mules of all types/educational information. Also some fertile mule information in FAQ.
• Mule Production (pub.1948) hosted by the UNT Government Documents Department

v t e Equine Equine science and management Equine anatomy Equine nutrition Horse behavior Horse care Horse breeding Equine conformation Equine coat color Horse gait Equestrianism and sport Glossary of equestrian terms List of Equestrian Sports Horse tack Bit Bridle Saddle Harness English riding Western riding Driving Horse training Horse racing Equestrian at the Summer Olympics (medalists, venues) Horse show Equitation Evolution and history Domestication In warfare In the Middle Ages Horses in East Asian warfare History of the horse in South Asia Horses in the Napoleonic Wars Horses in World War I Horses in World War II History of the horse in Britain Horse breeds, types and other Equidae Horses List of horse breeds Wild horse Feral horse Stock horse Gaited horse Draft horse Warmblood Sport horse Other Equus List of donkey breeds Donkey Zebra Onager Hybrids Hinny Mule Zebroid Category: Equidae

Raymond Fairchild (born March 15, 1939) is an American banjo player from the Great Smoky Mountains. He is known for his fast playing, his fancy and intricate picking and his ability of making the banjo mimic both animals and humans.

Biography[link]

Fairchild was born in Cherokee, Swain County, North Carolina and learned music, from an early age, from his mother's side of the family. His musical influences also included Earl Scruggs, and Don Reno. When he was young he played for tips at a tourist stop in Maggie Valley.^[1] The owner of the tourist stop, Ted Sutton, taught young Fairchild about show-business.^[2] When Fairchild wasn't performing he worked as a stonemason.^[3] In the mid 1960s, he formed the Frosty Mountain Boys but soon changed the name to the Maggie Valley Boys.

Fairchild was signed by Uncle Jim O'Neal to record for the Rural Rhythm label. In the early 1970s, He made a successful performance on the Grand Ole Opry at WSM in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1975, he met the Crowe Brothers, (Wallace Crowe, and Wayne Crowe) and together they formed a trio.^[4] The bluegrass trio lasted until 1991 when Fairchild formed the New Maggie Valley Boys with his son Zane Fairchild.^[5]

Fairchild has won five awards as a champion banjo player^[6] and has scored two gold records.^[2] He has his own line of banjos, the Cox/Faichild banjo.^[7] Since he is reluctant to leave his home district he is mostly seen at the Maggie Valley Opry House.^[2]

Discography[link]

LPs[link]

• King of the Smokey Mountain 5-String Banjo Players, Rural Rhythm RR-146 (1963)
• Mama Likes Bluegrass Music, Rural Rhythm RRFM 159 (1967)
• Raymond Fairchild & the Maggie Valley Boys, Rural Rhythm RRMVB 170 (1967)
• Honky Tonkin' Country Blues, Rural Rhythm RRRF 245 (1971)
• King of the Smokey Mountain Banjo Players, Rural Rhythm RRRF 254 (1972)
• King of the Smokey Mountain 5-String Banjo Players, Rural Rhythm RRRF 256 (1972)
• King of the 5-String Banjo, Rural Rhythm RRRF 260 (1976)
• King of the 5-String Banjo, Rural Rhythm RRRF 261 (1976)
• King of the 5-String Banjo, Rural Rhythm RRRF 262 (1976)
• King of the 5-String Banjo, Rural Rhythm RRRF 263 (1976)
• Legendary Raymond Fairchild, Skyline SRO 003 (1981)
• Plays Requests, Skyline SRO 012 (1985)
• World Champion Banjo, Skyline SRO 016 (1987)

CDs[link]

• Mama Likes Bluegrass Music, Rural Rhythm RHY 159
• 31 Banjo Favorites, Rural Rhythm RHY 254
• 16 All-Time Favorites, Rural Rhythm RHY 260
• 15 Gospel Favorites, Rural Rhythm RHY 263
• 31 Banjo Favorites Vol 2, Rural Rhythm RHY 270
• Smoky Mountain Christmas, Rural Rhythm RHY 290
• The Bluegrass Banjo Collection, Rural Rhythm RHY 294
• 31 Banjo Favorites (The New Collection), Rural Rhythm RHY 324

Footnotes[link]

References[link]

• Rehder, John B. (2004) Appalachian Folkways, JHU Press
• Williams, Michael Ann (1995) Great Smoky Mountains Folklife, University Press of Mississippi

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (April 2009)

Andy Griffith
Andy Griffith receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Born	Andy Samuel Griffith (1926-06-01) June 1, 1926 (age 86) Mount Airy, North Carolina, United States
Nationality	American
Education	Mount Airy High School
Alma mater	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Occupation	Actor, comedian, director, producer, singer (country, bluegrass & southern gospel), writer
Years active	1949–present
Notable work(s)	The Andy Griffith Show, Matlock
Political party	Democrat
Religion	Christian (Baptist/Moravian Church)
Spouse	Barbara Bray Edwards (m. 1949–72) (divorced) Solica Cassuto (m. 1975–81) (divorced) Cindi Knight (1983–present)

Andy Samuel Griffith (born June 1, 1926) is an American actor, director, producer, Grammy Award-winning Southern-gospel singer, and writer.^[1] He gained prominence in the starring role in director Elia Kazan's epic film, A Face in the Crowd (1957) before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead characters in the 1960–68 situation comedy, The Andy Griffith Show, and in the 1986–95 legal drama, Matlock. Griffith was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by US President George W. Bush on November 9, 2005.

Early life and education[link]

Griffith was born in Mount Airy, North Carolina, the only child of Geneva (née Nunn) and Carl Lee Griffith.^[2] At a very young age, Griffith had to live with relatives until his parents could afford to get a home of their own. Without a crib or a bed, he slept in drawers for a few months. In 1929, when Griffith was three years old, his father took a job working as a carpenter and was finally able to purchase a home in Mount Airy's "blue-collar" southside.

Like his mother, Griffith grew up listening to music. His father instilled a sense of humor from old family stories. By the time he entered school he was well aware that he was from what many considered the "wrong side of the tracks". He was a shy student, but once he found a way to make his peers laugh, he began to come out of his shell and come into his own.

As a student at Mount Airy High School, Griffith cultivated an interest in the arts, and he participated in the school's drama program. A growing love of music, particularly swing, would change his life. Griffith was raised Baptist^[3] and looked up to Ed Mickey, a minister at Grace Moravian Church, who led the brass band and taught him to sing and play the trombone. Mickey nurtured Griffith's talent throughout high school until graduation in 1944. Griffith was delighted when he was offered a role in The Lost Colony, a play still performed today on Roanoke Island. He performed as a cast member of the play for several years, playing a variety of roles, until he finally landed the role of Sir Walter Raleigh, the namesake of North Carolina's capital.

He began college studying to be a Moravian preacher, but he changed his major to music and became a part of the school's Carolina Play Makers. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and graduated with a bachelor of music degree in 1949. At UNC he was president of the UNC Men's Glee Club and a member of the Alpha Rho Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, America's oldest fraternity for men in music.^{[citation needed]} He also played roles in several student operettas, including The Chimes of Normandy (1946), and Gilbert and Sullivan's The Gondoliers (1945), The Mikado (1948) and H.M.S. Pinafore (1949).^[4]

After graduation, he taught English for a few years at Goldsboro High School in Goldsboro, North Carolina, where he taught, among others, Carl Kasell.^[5] He also began to write.

Career[link]

From rising comedian to film star[link]

Griffith's early career was as a monologist, delivering long stories such as What it Was, Was Football, which is told from the point of view of a rural backwoodsman trying to figure out what was going on in a football game.^[6] Released as a single in 1953 on the Colonial label, the monologue was a hit for Griffith, reaching number nine on the charts in 1954.^[7]

Griffith starred in a one-hour teleplay version of No Time for Sergeants (March 1955)—a story about a country boy in the US Air Force—on The United States Steel Hour, a television anthology series. He expanded that role in a full-length theatrical version of the same name (October 1955) on Broadway in New York City, New York.^[8] His Broadway career also included the title role in the 1957 musical, Destry Rides Again, co-starring Delores Gray. The show, with a score by Harold Rome, ran for more than a year.

Griffith later reprised his role for the film version (1958) of No Time for Sergeants; the film also featured Don Knotts, as a corporal in charge of manual-dexterity tests, marking the beginning of a life-long association between Griffith and Knotts. No Time for Sergeants is considered the direct inspiration for the later television situation comedy Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.^[9]

He also portrayed a US Coast Guard sailor in the feature film Onionhead (1958); it was neither a critical nor a commercial success.

[edit] Dramatic role in A Face in the Crowd (1957)

In 1957 Griffith made his film début, starring in the film A Face in the Crowd. Although he plays a "country boy", this country boy is manipulative and power-hungry, a drifter who becomes a television host and uses his show as a gateway to political power. Co-starring Patricia Neal, Walter Matthau, Tony Franciosa, and Lee Remick (in her film début as well), this now-classic film, directed by Elia Kazan, showcases Griffith's powerful talents. Written by Budd Schulberg, and partly based on the on-stage phoniness of Arthur Godfrey, the film demonstrated, quite early on, the power that television can have upon the masses. This prescient film was seldom run on television until the 1990s.^{[citation needed]}

A 2005 DVD reissue of A Face in the Crowd includes a mini-documentary on the film, with comments from Schulberg and surviving cast members Griffith, Franciosa, and Neal. In his interview, Griffith, revered for his wholesome image for decades, reveals a more complex side of himself. He recalls Kazan prepping him to shoot his first scene with Remick's teenaged baton twirler, who captivates Griffith's character on a trip to Arkansas. Griffith also expresses his belief that the film was far more popular and respected in more recent decades than it was when originally released.

Television roles[link]

Early television roles[link]

Publicity photo of Griffith for his No Time for Sergeants television appearance.

Griffith's first appearance on television had been in 1955 in the one-hour teleplay of No Time for Sergeants on The United States Steel Hour. That was the first of two appearances on that series.

In 1960, Griffith appeared as a county sheriff (who was also a justice of the peace and the editor of the local newspaper) in an episode of Make Room for Daddy, starring Danny Thomas. This episode, in which Thomas' character is stopped for speeding in a little town, served as a backdoor pilot for The Andy Griffith Show. Both shows were produced by Sheldon Leonard.

[edit] The Andy Griffith Show (1960–1968)

Beginning in 1960, Griffith starred as Sheriff Andy Taylor in The Andy Griffith Show for the CBS television network. The show took place in the fictional town of Mayberry, North Carolina, where Taylor, a widower, was the sheriff and town sage. The show was filmed at Desilu Studios, with exteriors filmed at Forty Acres in Culver City, CA.

From 1960 to 1965, the show co-starred character actor and comedian—and Griffith's longtime friend—Don Knotts in the role of Deputy Barney Fife, Taylor's best friend and partner. He was also Taylor's cousin in the show. In the series première episode, in a conversation between the two, Fife calls Taylor "Cousin Andy", and Taylor calls Fife "Cousin Barney". The show also starred child actor Ron Howard (then known as Ronny Howard), who played Taylor's only child, Opie Taylor.

Andy lends a hand when Barney gets his gun stuck on his finger.

It was an immediate hit. Although Griffith never received a writing credit for the show, he worked on the development of every script. While Knotts was frequently lauded and won multiple Emmy Awards for his comedic performances (as did Frances Bavier in 1967), Griffith was never nominated for an Emmy Award during the show's run.

In 1967, Griffith was under contract with CBS to do one more season of the show. However, he decided to quit the show to pursue a movie career and other projects. The series continued as Mayberry R.F.D., with Ken Berry starring as a widower farmer and many of the regular characters recurring, some regularly and some as guest appearances. Griffith served as executive producer (according to Griffith, he came in once a week to review the week's scripts and give input) and guest starred in five episodes (the pilot episode involved his marriage to Helen Crump).^[10] He made final appearances as Taylor in the 1986 reunion television film, Return to Mayberry, and in two reunion specials in 1993 and 2003.

[edit] Matlock (1986–1995)

After leaving his still-popular show in 1968, and starting his own production company (Andy Griffith Enterprises) in 1972, Griffith starred in less-successful television series such as Headmaster (1970), The New Andy Griffith Show (1971), Adams of Eagle Lake (1975) Salvage 1 (1979), and The Yeagers (1980).

After spending time in rehabilitation for leg paralysis from Guillain–Barré syndrome in 1986, Griffith returned to television as the title character, Ben Matlock, in the legal drama Matlock (1986–1995) on NBC and ABC. Matlock was a country lawyer in Atlanta, Georgia, who was known for his Southern drawl and for always winning his cases. Matlock also starred unfamiliar actors (both of whom were childhood fans of Andy Griffith) Nancy Stafford as Michelle Thomas (1987–1992) and Clarence Gilyard Jr. as Conrad McMasters (1989–1993). By the end of its first season it was a ratings powerhouse on Tuesday nights. Although the show was nominated for four Emmy Awards, Griffith once again was never nominated. He did, however, win a People's Choice Award in 1987 for his work as Matlock.

During the series' sixth season, he served as unofficial director, executive producer and writer of the show.

This show is mentioned on TV's longest animated show The Simpsons and is noted as Grandpa Simpson's favorite show as well as Marge Simpson's mother Jacqueline Bouvier's as well.

Other television appearances[link]

Griffith has also made other character appearances through the years on Playhouse 90, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., The Mod Squad, Hawaii Five-O, The Doris Day Show, Here's Lucy, The Bionic Woman, Fantasy Island, among many others. He also reprised his role as Ben Matlock on Diagnosis: Murder in 1997, and his most recent guest-starring role was in 2001 in an episode of Dawson's Creek.

Films (including television films)[link]

For most of the 1970s, Griffith starred or appeared in many television films including The Strangers In 7A (1972), Go Ask Alice (1973), Winter Kill (1974), and Pray for the Wildcats (1974), which marked his first villainous role. Griffith appeared again as a villain in Savages (1974), a television film based on the novel Deathwatch (1972) by Robb White. Griffith received his only Primetime Emmy Award nomination as Outstanding Supporting Actor – Miniseries or a Movie for his role as the father of a murder victim in the television film Murder In Texas (1981) and won further acclaim for his role as a homicidal villain in the television film Murder in Coweta County (1983), co-starring music legend Johnny Cash as the sheriff. He also proved to be a good character actor and appeared in several television mini-series, including the television version of From Here to Eternity (1979), Roots: The Next Generations (1979), Centennial (1978), and the Watergate scandal-inspired Washington: Behind Closed Doors (1977), playing a former president loosely based on Lyndon B. Johnson.

Most of the TV movies Griffith starred in were also attempts to launch a new series. 1974's Winter Kill launched the short lived Adams of Eagle Lake which was canceled after only two episodes in 1975. A year later, he starred as a New York City attorney for the DA's office in Street Killing which also failed to launch a new series. Two television films for NBC in 1977, The Girl in The Empty Grave and Deadly Game, were attempts for Griffith to launch a new series featuring him as Police Chief Abel Marsh, a more hard-edged version of Andy Taylor; despite strong ratings for both films, both were unsuccessful.

While appearing in television films and guest roles on television series over the next 10 years, Griffith also appeared in two feature films, both of which flopped at the box office. He co-starred with Jeff Bridges as a crusty old 1930s western actor in the comedy Hearts of the West (1975), and he appeared alongside Tom Berenger as a gay villainous colonel and cattle baron in the western comedy spoof Rustlers' Rhapsody (1985).

He also appeared as an attorney in the NBC mini-series Fatal Vision in 1984, which is considered a precursor to his role in Matlock.

Griffith stunned many unfamiliar with his A Face in the Crowd work in the television film Crime of Innocence (1985), where he portrayed a callous judge who routinely sentenced juveniles to hard prison time. He further stunned audiences with his role as a dangerous and mysterious grandfather in 1995's Gramps, co-starring the late John Ritter. He also appeared as a comical villain in the spy movie spoof Spy Hard (1996) starring Leslie Nielsen. In the television film A Holiday Romance (1999), Griffith played the role of "Jake Peterson." In the film Daddy and Them (2001), Griffith portrayed a patriarch of a dysfunctional southern family.

In the feature film Waitress (2007), Griffith played a crusty diner owner who takes a shine to Keri Russell's character. His latest appearance was the leading role in the romantic comedy, independent film Play The Game (2009) as a lonely, widowed grandfather re-entering the dating world after a 60-year hiatus. The cast of Play The Game also included Rance Howard, Ron Howard's real-life father, who made appearances in various supporting roles on The Andy Griffith Show, and Clint Howard, Ron's younger brother, who had the recurring role of Leon (the kid offering the ice cream cone or peanut butter sandwich) on TAGS.

Singing and recording career[link]

Griffith sang as part of some of his acting roles, most notably in A Face In The Crowd and in many episodes of both The Andy Griffith Show and Matlock. In addition to his recordings of comic monologues in the 1950s, he made an album of upbeat country and gospel tunes during the run of The Andy Griffith Show, which included a version of the show's theme sung by Griffith under the title "The Fishin' Hole". In recent years, he has recorded successful albums of classic Christian hymns for Sparrow Records. His most successful was the 1996 release I Love to Tell the Story: 25 Timeless Hymns, which was certified platinum by the RIAA.^[11]

Griffith appeared in country singer Brad Paisley's music video "Waitin' on a Woman" (2008).

Name dispute[link]

William Harold Fenrick of Platteville, Wisconsin, legally changed his name to Andrew Jackson Griffith and ran unsuccessfully for sheriff of Grant County in November 2006. Subsequently, actor Griffith filed a lawsuit against Griffith/Fenrick, asserting that he violated trademark, copyright, and privacy laws by changing his name for the "sole purpose of taking advantage of Griffith's notoriety in an attempt to gain votes". On May 4, 2007, US District Court Judge John C. Shabaz ruled that Griffith/Fenrick did not violate federal trademark law because he did not use the Griffith name in a commercial transaction but instead strove "to seek elective office, fundamental First Amendment protected speech."^[12]

Associations[link]

R.G. Armstrong[link]

The longest association Griffith has had began in 1949 with a then-unknown actor, R.G. Armstrong. They met when Armstrong was one of Griffith's and his first wife's students at UNC, where Armstrong majored in drama. After graduating from college, Armstrong went on to become a versatile character actor while attending The Actors Studio in New York City.

In the 1960s, they were reunited in an episode of The Andy Griffith Show, with Armstrong playing a farmer who was the father of a tomboy. In the 1980s, Armstrong made a guest appearance in a two-part episode of Matlock, which was filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina, playing the role of a sheriff who introduces Matlock to a young, hotshot private investigator. Griffith and Armstrong keep in contact.

Don Knotts[link]

Griffith's relationship with Knotts began in 1955, when they co-starred in the Broadway play No Time for Sergeants. Several years later, Knotts had a regular role on The Andy Griffith Show for five seasons. Knotts left the series in 1965 but periodically returned for guest appearances. He appeared in the pilot for Griffith's subsequent short-lived series, The New Andy Griffith Show, and he had a recurring role on Matlock, from 1988 to 1992.

They kept in contact until Knotts' death in early 2006. Griffith traveled from his Manteo, North Carolina home to Los Angeles, California, to visit a terminally ill Knotts in the hospital just before Knotts died from complications of lung cancer.^[13]

Ron Howard[link]

Griffith's friendship with Howard began in 1960, when they guest-starred in the episode of Make Room For Daddy that led to the formation of The Andy Griffith Show that same year. For eight seasons they shared a unique father-son relationship on the set. They guest-starred together in its spin-off series, Mayberry R.F.D., in an episode where Griffith's character married his long-time girlfriend. They also appeared in the episode Opie's Ill-Gotten Gain, in which Howard's character, Opie, runs away from home and attempts to enlist in the US Marines. Howard and Griffith starred together in most of "The Andy Griffith Show" episodes. They costarred in the television special Return to Mayberry (1986), in which the now-adult Opie is about to become a father, and they later appeared together in CBS reunion specials in 1993 and 2003.

Griffith made a surprise appearance as the ghost of Andy Taylor when Howard hosted Saturday Night Live in 1982. Howard did not make any cameo appearances on Matlock, but his mother, Jean Speegle Howard, had a small role in one episode. Howard attended the People's Choice Awards in 1987, where Griffith was honored.

Howard and Griffith keep in contact sharing news about family and personal activities. Howard and his family attended Waitress (2007), which they reportedly enjoyed.^{[citation needed]} To this day, Griffith still calls Howard by his childhood nickname, Ronny.

In October 2008, Griffith and Howard briefly reprised their Mayberry roles in an online video Ron Howard’s Call to Action. It was posted to comedy video website Funny or Die. The video encouraged people to vote and endorsed Democratic candidates Barack Obama and Joe Biden.^[14]

Personal life[link]

Marriage and family[link]

Griffith and Barbara Bray Edwards were married on August 22, 1949, and they adopted a son, Andrew Samuel Griffith Jr. (born in 1957 and known as Sam Griffith), a real-estate developer, and a daughter, Dixie Nan. They were divorced in 1972. Sam died in 1996 after years of alcoholism.^[15]

He and Cindi Knight were married on April 12, 1983; they had met when he was filming Murder in Coweta County.

Political activities[link]

In addition to his online video with Howard in 2008, in politics Griffith has favored Democrats and recorded television commercials endorsing North Carolina Governors Mike Easley^[16] and Bev Perdue.^[17] He spoke at the inauguration ceremonies of both.^[18][19] In 1984, he declined an offer by Democratic party officials to run against Jesse Helms, a US Senator from North Carolina.^{[citation needed]}

In July 2010, he also starred in ads about Medicare.^[20]

Health[link]

Griffith's first serious health problem was in April 1983, when he was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome^[21][22] and could not walk for seven months because of paralysis from the knees down.

On May 9, 2000, he underwent quadruple heart-bypass surgery at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia.^[23] After a fall, Griffith underwent hip surgery on September 5, 2007, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.^[24]

Albums[link]

Filmography[link]

Features[link]

Short subjects[link]

Television work[link]

Honors[link]

Andy Griffith and Julie Adams in 1962

Mount Airy annually celebrates Griffith and his eponymous television series with "Mayberry Days", named after the fictional community of Mayberry in The Andy Griffith Show.^[26]

A statue of the Mayberry characters, Andy and Opie, was constructed in Pullen Park in Raleigh, North Carolina, and at the Andy Griffith Playhouse in Mount Airy.

C.F. Martin & Company, guitar manufacturers, offers an Andy Griffith signature model guitar. Limited edition in 2004 of the D-18 Model with 311 units total production. Patterned after Andy's own 1956 D-18.

Griffith received a Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album for I Love to Tell the Story — 25 Timeless Hymns in 1997.

In 1999 Griffith was inducted into the Country Gospel Music Hall of Fame with fellow artists Lulu Roman, Barbara Mandrell, David L. Cook, Gary S. Paxton, Jimmy Snow, Loretta Lynn, and Jody Miller.^[27]

In October 2002, an 11-mile (18 km) stretch of US Highway 52 that passes through Mount Airy was dedicated as the Andy Griffith Parkway.

He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bush on November 9, 2005.^[28]

A few weeks earlier, he had helped preside over the reopening of UNC's Memorial Hall and donated a substantial amount of memorabilia from his career to the university.

In 2007, he was inducted into the Christian Music Hall of Fame and Museum.^[29]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Andy Griffith

• Andy Griffith at the Internet Movie Database
• Andy Griffith at the Internet Broadway Database
• Discography at CMT.com
• Inventory of the Andy Griffith Papers, 1949–1997, in the Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• "Judge: Wis'. 'Andy Griffith' Did Not Harm Actor"^{[dead link]}, news report by The Associated Press on the May 2007 ruling in favor of William Harold Fenrick.
• "What It Was, Was Football", includes links to audio of the routine and Mad magazine treatment.
• Fans created replica of Sheriff Andy Taylor's Mayberry home for B&B
• Taylor home replica inn
• Beckwith, Ryan Teague (December 27, 2007). "Andy Griffith", profile at The News & Observer. Accessed November 12, 2009.
• Andy Griffith Archive of American Television Interview

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (December 2011)

Kenny Burrell
Kenny Burrell in Buffalo, New York, 1977
Background information
Birth name	Kenneth Earl Burrell
Born	(1931-07-31) July 31, 1931 (age 80) Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Genres	Bebop, cool jazz
Occupations	Guitarist
Instruments	Guitar, banjo, vocals
Years active	1951–present
Labels	Blue Note, Prestige, Verve, Fantasy

Kenneth Earl "Kenny" Burrell (born July 31, 1931)^[1] is an American jazz guitarist. His playing is grounded in bebop and blues; he has performed and recorded with a wide range of jazz musicians.

Biography[link]

Burrell was born in Detroit, Michigan to a musical family and began playing guitar at the age of 12. His influences as a guitar player include Charlie Christian, Django Reinhardt, and Wes Montgomery. While a student at Wayne State University, he made his debut recording as a member of Dizzy Gillespie's sextet in 1951. He toured with Oscar Peterson after graduating in 1955 and then moved to New York City in 1956.^[1]

A consummate sideman, Burrell recorded with a wide range of prominent musicians. He also led his own groups since 1951 and recorded many well received albums.^[1]

In the 1970s he began leading seminars about music, particularly Duke Ellington's. A highly popular performer, he has won several jazz polls in Japan and the United Kingdom as well as the United States.

He has recorded about 106 albums, including Midnight Blue (1963), Blue Lights, Guitar Forms, Sunup To Sundown (1990), Soft Winds (1993), Then Along Came Kenny (1993), and Lotus Blossom (1995).

In 2001, Burrell performed "C Jam Blues" with Medeski, Martin & Wood for the Red Hot Organization's compilation album Red Hot + Indigo, a tribute to Duke Ellington, which raised money for various charities devoted to increasing AIDS awareness and fighting the disease.

As of 1996, Burrell has served as Director of Jazz Studies at UCLA, mentoring such notable alumni as Gretchen Parlato and Kalil Wilson.^[2] Burrell teaches a course entitled "Ellingtonia", examining the life and accomplishments of Duke Ellington.

Discography[link]

This section requires expansion.

As leader[link]

• Introducing Kenny Burrell (Blue Note, 1956)
• Kenny Burrell Volume 2 (Blue Note, 1956)
• Swingin' (Blue Note, 1956)
• All Night Long (Prestige, 1956)
• Two Guitars (Prestige, 1957)^[3]
• All Day Long (Prestige, 1957)
• Earthy (Prestige, 1957)
• Kenny Burrell (Prestige, 1957)
• K.B. Blues (Blue Note, 1957)
• Kenny Burrell and John Coltrane (Prestige, 1958)
• Blue Lights Volume 1 (Blue Note, 1958)
• Blue Lights Volume 2 (Blue Note, 1958)
• On View at the Five Spot Cafe (Blue Note, 1959)
• A Night at the Vanguard (Argo, 1959)
• Weaver of Dreams (Columbia, 1960)
• Bluesin' Around (Columbia, 1961)
• Bluesy Burrell (Moodsville, 1962)
• Blue Bash! (with Jimmy Smith) (Verve, 1963)
• Crash! (with Jack McDuff) (Prestige, 1963)
• Midnight Blue (Blue Note, 1963)
• Freedom (Blue Note, 1963)
• Soul Call (Prestige, 1964)
• Guitar Forms (Verve, 1965)
• The Tender Gender (Cadet, 1966)
• Have Yourself a Soulful Little Christmas (Cadet 1967)
• Blues - the Common Ground (Verve, 1968)
• Asphalt Canyon Suite (Verve 1969)
• God Bless the Child (CTI, 1971)
• ‘Round Midnight (Fantasy, 1972)
• Ellington Is Forever (Fantasy, 1975–77)
• When Lights Are Low (1978)
• Moon and Sand (1979)
• Generation (Blue Note, 1986)
• Pieces of Blue and the Blues (Blue Note, 1988)
• Guiding Spirit (Contemporary, 1989)
• Sunup to Sundown (Contemporary, 1991)
• Lotus Blossom (Concord, 1995)
• Love is the Answer, featuring The Boys Choir of Harlem (Concord Concerto, 1998)
• *12-15-78 (32 Jazz, 1999)
• Introducing Kenny Burrell: The First Blue Note Sessions (2000)
• Lucky So and So (Concord Jazz, 2001)
• 75th Birthday Bash Live! (Blue Note, 2007)
• Be Yourself: Live at Dizzy's (Highnote, 2010)

As sideman[link]

• Jazzmen of Detroit with Tommy Flanagan, Pepper Adams, Paul Chambers, Kenny Clarke (1956; Savoy Records)

With Bill Evans

• Quintessence (1972)

With Paul Chambers

• Whims of Chambers (1956)
• Bass on Top (1957)

With Terry Gibbs

• Take It from Me (Impulse!, 1964)

With Dizzy Gillespie

• Dee Gee Days: The Savoy Sessions (Savoy, 1951-52 [1976])

With Eddie Harris

• Cool Sax from Hollywood to Broadway (Columbia, 1964)

With Milt Jackson

• Bags & Flutes (Atlantic, 1957)
• Bean Bags with Coleman Hawkins (Atlantic, 1958)
• Vibrations (Atlantic, 1960–61)
• Much in Common with Ray Brown (Verve, 1964)

With John Jenkins

• John Jenkins with Kenny Burrell (1957)

With Thad Jones

• Detroit-New York Junction (1956)

With Wynton Kelly

• Piano (1958)
• Comin' in the Back Door (1963)
• It's All Right! (1964)

With Hubert Laws

• Laws' Cause (Atlantic, 1968)

With Ike Quebec

• Soul Samba (1962)

With Freddie Roach

• Down to Earth (1962)
• Mo' Greens Please (1963)

With Charlie Rouse

• Bossa Nova Bacchanal (1962)

With Lalo Schifrin

• Once a Thief and Other Themes (Verve, 1965)

With Jimmy Smith

• House Party (1957)
• Softly as a Summer Breeze (Blue Note, 1958)
• Home Cookin' (1958–59)
• Midnight Special (1961)
• Back at the Chicken Shack (1963)

With Stanley Turrentine

• Jubilee Shout!!! (1962)
• Hustlin' (1964)
• The Sugar Man (1971)

With Kai Winding

• More (Theme from Mondo Cane) (Verve V-8551) (1963)

With Sonny Rollins

• Alfie (1966)

With Johnny Hartman

• I Just Dropped by to Say Hello (1964)

See also[link]

• Organ trio, a type of small jazz ensemble in which Burrell often performed

References[link]

External links[link]

• Kenny Burrell - Verve Records
• Jazz Legends- Jazz Improv Magazine