A spec script, also known as a speculative screenplay, is a non-commissioned unsolicited screenplay. It is usually written by a screenwriter who hopes to have the script optioned and eventually purchased by a producer, production company, or studio.

Interest in originals[link]

Spec scripts have not always held as much cachet in the business as they do now. Ernest Lehman describes how his original script for North by Northwest was unusual at that point in his career:

Originals were not smiled upon in those days, believe it or not. There was very little interest in originals in those days. [...] Studios, distributors wanted the assurance of someone else having thought a property worth publishing[...] In those days, if you went to a party in the Hollywood community and somebody would ask, "What are you working on, Ernie?" and you replied, "I'm doing an original now," the response would be "Oh." [...] Like they were a little embarrassed [...] If you were working on something that you were going to create all by yourself, they'd secretly think, "He's in bad shape. Working on an original." That definitely was the climate at one time in this town.^[1]

Attracting producers[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

If the writer of a spec script has an agent, the agent will identify a number of prospective buyers who may range from small independent producers to executives working in the major studios, and attempt to build up 'heat' under the script. The script is sent out simultaneously to all the prospective buyers in the hope of attracting a bidding war.

If the script sells, the writer may receive a payment of anything from a few tens of thousands of dollars to several million. If not, the script is sometimes dead in the water because it is now in the databases of the studios and development executives, and has been marked as having been 'passed' on.

Most of the tens of thousands of spec scripts penned each year are written by unknown or amateur screenwriters. (See the screenwriting documentary Dreams on Spec.)

Most often if they are unique in content and concept, they are purchased based on the speculated end result of entertainment (and assuming rewrites by studio-hired screenwriters, if needed).

If a spec script is not picked up, but the script is good, the screenwriter is usually offered another writing assignment. Spec scripts are often written by unknown professional screenwriters looking to prove their storytelling ability and make a name for themselves in the film industry.

Sample script[link]

Sample scripts are not intended for production but are used for showcase purposes only. Unsold or unproduced screenplays often go on to be sample scripts.

See also[link]

• Screenwriter's salary
• Storyboard
• WGA script registration service

References[link]

1. ^ John Brady, "The craft of the screenwriter", 1981. Page 204

Chuck Lorre
Lorre in September 2011
Born	Charles Michael Levine (1952-10-18) October 18, 1952 (age 59) Bethpage, Long Island, New York
Occupation	Writer, television producer, composer, television director, production manager
Years active	1984–present
Notable work(s)	Grace Under Fire Cybill Dharma & Greg Two and a Half Men The Big Bang Theory
Salary	$35 million (2011)[1]
Spouse	Karen Witter (2001–2010)
Children	2
Awards	BMI Television Music Awards 2004, 2005, 2008
Website
ChuckLorre.com

Chuck Lorre (born Charles Michael Levine October 18, 1952)^[2] is an American writer, director, producer and composer. Lorre has created many American sitcoms including Grace Under Fire, Cybill, Dharma & Greg, Two and a Half Men, and The Big Bang Theory. Lorre also served as an executive producer of the sitcom Roseanne, and currently serves as an executive producer for CBS's Mike & Molly.

Early life[link]

Lorre attended State University of New York at Potsdam, dropping out after two years to pursue a career as a songwriter.^[2]

Career[link]

After leaving school, Lorre toured the United States as a guitarist and songwriter.^[3] He wrote Deborah Harry's radio hit single "French Kissin' in the USA" for the 1986 Rockbird album.^[3] Lorre also composed the soundtrack to the 1987 television series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with Dennis Challen Brown.^[4][5][6]

Lorre shifted into writing, being a writer on the show Roseanne. Lorre's first show as creator was the ABC sitcom Grace Under Fire, starring comedienne Brett Butler.^[3] It premiered on ABC in 1993, and was nominated at the 52nd Golden Globe Awards for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy.

Lorre's next project was the sitcom Cybill, starring Cybill Shepherd. The show aired for four seasons on CBS and received critical acclaim, winning an Emmy in 1995: Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy series for co-star Christine Baranski and 2 Golden Globe Awards in 1996: Best TV series (Musical or Comedy) and Best Actress in a TV series (Musical or Comedy) for Shepherd's performance as Cybill Sheridan. Lorre's next project, Dharma & Greg, was conceived in 1997, one year before the end of Cybill.^[2] The show starred Jenna Elfman and Thomas Gibson as the title characters, whose characters were felt by loyal watchers to smolder with warmth and tension as they grappled with challenges of conventional couple-dom for the show's duration.

In 2003, Lorre co-created Two and a Half Men with Lee Aronsohn. The show focuses on two brothers, Charlie (Charlie Sheen) and Alan (Jon Cryer). Charlie is a rich, successful Hollywood composer/producer and womanizer who owns a beach house in Malibu. When Alan gets a divorce, he is forced to move into Charlie's house. Alan also has a son, Jake (Angus T. Jones) the "half" who comes to visit the brothers on weekends. The series premiered on CBS in September 2003 and has become the most popular sitcom in America.^[2] As of the 2010–11 season, Two and a Half Men would have completed eight seasons. In February 2011, however, CBS canceled the production of the rest of the eighth season, following several incidents of production shutdowns allegedly due to Sheen's problems with substance abuse, the last of which culminated in Sheen's verbal attacks directed at Lorre in a radio interview.^[7][8] Sheen ended up being fired from Two and a Half Men,^[9] and because of this, he later filed a $100 million lawsuit against Lorre and Warner Bros. Television.^[10] In May 2011 it was announced that Ashton Kutcher would replace Sheen as the lead of the show. His character's name is Walden Schmidt. Kutcher made his debut in the season 9 premiere on September 19, 2011.

In 2007, Lorre co-created The Big Bang Theory with Bill Prady. The show follows two nerdy physicists living next door to an attractive young woman. Each episode usually focuses on the daily lives of the men and two of their equally nerdy friends, with a dose of absurdity from the relationship with their normal neighbor. The two main protagonists, Sheldon and Leonard, are named after the actor and television producer Sheldon Leonard.^[11] The show is the second highest rated comedy series in America.^[3]

Lorre's most recent production Mike & Molly premiered on CBS in September 2010.^[12]

Vanity cards[link]

Lorre in 2007

On the vanity card for Chuck Lorre Productions at the end of every episode of Dharma & Greg, Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory and Mike & Molly, Lorre includes a message that usually reads like an editorial, essay, or observation on life. A typical card might include a range of topics as diverse as what the Bee Gees never learned, the cancellation of Dharma & Greg, the competence of AOL Time Warner management, and the genesis of Two and a Half Men.

The card is shown for only a few seconds at most, so longer messages cannot be read unless recorded and paused, although Lorre now posts the cards on his website. CBS has censored Lorre's vanity cards on several occasions;^[13] Lorre posts both the censored and uncensored versions of the cards.

Several of the cards became prominent elements of the Charlie Sheen incident.^[14]

The vanity card used on Grace under Fire and Cybill featured a wooden desk with an Apple Macintosh SE.

The vanity cards often are unapologetic in support of President Obama.

Selected credits[link]

Lorre in September 2008

• Roseanne, 1990–1992, (writer, co-executive producer / supervising producer)
• Grace Under Fire, 1993–1998 (creator, writer, co-executive producer / supervising producer)
• Cybill, 1995–1998 (creator, writer and executive producer)
• Dharma & Greg, 1997–2002 (creator, writer, executive producer)
• Two and a Half Men, 2003–present (creator, writer, executive producer)
• The Big Bang Theory, 2007–present (creator, writer, executive producer)
• Mike & Molly, 2010–present (executive producer, writer)

Show crossovers[link]

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (February 2011)

Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory are both taped at the Warner Brothers lot, in adjacent stages; the shows share several writers and technical crews.^[15] The Big Bang Theory has cast several actors from Lorre's past, starting with Johnny Galecki from Roseanne (he was Darlene's boyfriend and later husband).^[16] Sara Gilbert, who played Darlene on Roseanne, was Leslie Winkle on Big Bang. Laurie Metcalf, who played Jackie in Roseanne, plays Sheldon's mother Mary. Christine Baranski, Emmy Award winner on Cybill, was cast as Leonard's mother.

Also on The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon, Leonard and Penny are seen watching Oshikuru: Demon Samurai. Oshikuru was the show for which the character Charlie Harper wrote the theme song on Two and a Half Men. Charlie Sheen's character also makes a cameo appearance in the Big Bang episode "The Griffin Equivalency".

Jon Cryer of Two and a Half Men appeared in one episode of Dharma & Greg. Jenna Elfman, Susan Sullivan, and Joel Murray of Dharma & Greg also appeared in various episodes of Two and a Half Men. In the eighth episode of the fifth season of Two and a Half Men ("Is There a Mrs. Waffles?") Charlie watches Dharma & Greg after watching the first commercial for his CD. In the first episode of the ninth season after Charlie Sheen got fired from the show, Dharma & Greg were one of the couples looking over Charlie's house, which is on sale.

Awards and recognition[link]

Lorre won BMI Television Music Awards in 2004, 2005, and 2008 for Two and a Half Men.

On March 12, 2009, Lorre received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.^[17] Three months later, Lorre received an honorary degree from the State University of New York at Potsdam and gave a keynote address at the graduation.^[18]

Lorre was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in March 2012.

Personal life[link]

Lorre is Jewish. He was married to actress and former Playboy Playmate Karen Witter for 10 years but divorced in July 2010^[19][20]. He has two children.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Chuck Lorre

• Chuck Lorre Productions
• Chuck Lorre at the Internet Movie Database
• The New Yorker profile of Chuck Lorre (December 2010)

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Tagged since April 2012. It relies on references to primary sources or sources affiliated with the subject, rather than references from independent authors and third-party publications. Tagged since April 2012. It may contain original research. Tagged since April 2012.

Ken Berry (born November 3, 1933) is an American actor, dancer and singer. He is mostly known for his persona on Mayberry RFD, as young widower and single parent.

As a "triple threat" (dancer/actor/singer), Berry has had success in multiple television shows, one being with his friend and mentor, Andy Griffith. Berry starred in the successful comedies F-Troop, The Andy Griffith Show spin-off Mayberry RFD, and The Carol Burnett Show spin-off Mama’s Family. He also appeared on Broadway in The Billy Barnes Review, has headlined as George M Cohan in the musical George M and provided comic relief for the medical drama Dr. Kildare, with Richard Chamberlain in the 1960s.

Early life and career[link]

Berry was born in Moline, Illinois, one of two children to accountant Darrell and his wife, Bernice. His older sister, Dona Rae, rounded out the family. He is of Swedish-English decent.

Berry realized he wanted to be a dancer and singer at the age of 12, as he watched a kids’ dance performance during a school assembly. He dreamed of starring in movie musicals and would go to the movie theater to see Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly in some of his favorite of their films including Easter Parade, Royal Wedding, On the Town and Summer Stock.^[1]

After seeing a school performance, Berry immediately started tap dance class and, at age 15, won a local talent competition sponsored by radio and television big band leader Horace Heidt. Heidt asked Berry to join his traveling performance ensemble, "The Horace Heidt Youth Opportunity Program", which was a popular touring group. Berry’s parents drove him to Los Angeles to live with the rest of the troupe at the Horace Height ranch in the San Fernando Valley. He toured the U.S. and parts of Europe for 15 months with the program, dancing and singing for the public and at post-WWII Air Force bases overseas. Berry made lasting relationships with several of his co-cast members and Horace’s son, Horace Heidt Jr., who later launched a big band and radio career. ^[1]

After finishing the tour with Horace Heidt, Berry returned to Moline and he and a friend converted an old grocery store into a dance studio where he taught dance. Thinking that teaching dance could be his profession, Berry taught for about a year before deciding to refocus on his own performance career.

This is the Army[link]

A few months after high school graduation Berry’s family drove him back to Los Angeles so that he could pursue acting. But before doing so, at age 20, Berry volunteered for induction into the army and he was assigned to Fort Bragg in North Carolina.

His first year in the Army was spent in the Artillery division, and one day, after coming back from maneuvers, his sergeant announced a talent contest on base. The winner would get to go to New York City to appear on Arlene Francis' Soldier Parade. Berry, who always carried his tap shoes with him, went to the only place that had a floor he wouldn’t ruin by dancing on it: the latrine. He worked out a routine and a few hours later won the contest. He headed to NYC for a week and his television debut.

Berry’s second and final year was as a part of the Special Services Corp., under the command of Sergeant Leonard Nimoy, who would go on to become a legend himself as Star Trek’s Mr. Spock. As a part of Special Services, he toured the country’s Army bases and officers clubs entertaining the troops, as well as visiting colleges for recruiting purposes. Soon another talent competition was held, this time it was the All Army Talent Competition, to find service personnel to appear on Ed Sullivan's Toast of the Town (which later evolved into The Ed Sullivan Show). Berry placed 3rd in the "Specialty Act" category with the song "There’ll Be Some Changes Made" and was on his way back to NYC and television.

Film career[link]

The Sullivan show appearance was to take place shortly before Berry would muster out of the Army, and although he thought it presumptuous to write the Hollywood studios asking them to watch his performance on Toast of the Town, Nimoy didn’t, and sent telegrams to several studios and talent agents asking them to watch Berry on the show. They tuned in and Ken’s performance led to an offer from Twentieth Century Fox and a screen test at Universal Studios prior to his arrival back in Hollywood. He signed with an agent as soon as he arrived in town.

Berry accepted Universal’s offer and began as a contract player. Soon he was being groomed to take over for Donald O'Connor in the Francis the Talking Mule movie series; however Mickey Rooney became available and got the part. While at Universal Berry took full advantage of the studio’s talent development program and later, under the GI Bill, he took jazz, ballet, vocal and additional acting classes.

Unfortunately, the movie musicals Berry dreamed of being in had already seen their heyday by the time he reached Hollywood. Little did he know that acting, which he once thought of as "something I would do between song and dance routines," ^[1] would become the basis of his career.

Berry went on to star in the 1969 musical comedy Hello Down There (reissued as Sub a Dub Dub) as Mel Cheever, the nemesis to Tony Randall and Janet Leigh, and with Denver Pyle in 1976’s in Guardian of the Wilderness, the story of Galen Clark, the man who created Yosemite National Park. Berry also earned broader success as a Disney star in the films Herbie Rides Again in 1974 with Helen Hayes and Stephanie Powers, and The Cat From Outer Space in 1978 with Sandy Duncan and McLean Stevenson.

Las Vegas[link]

In 1956, after being released from Universal, Berry returned to Las Vegas where he opened for and joined Abbott & Costello in their stage act, doing sketches and song & dance routines at the Sahara Hotel and Casino. While working with Abbott & Costello, he met Dee Arlen, an actress whom he credits with getting him his first big break from which almost all of his other opportunities would come.^[1] This was Berry’s first performance on the Las Vegas strip .

Then, in 1957, Berry was asked by Ken Murray (entertainer), a well-known vaudeville performer, to join his stage variety show called "The Ken Murray Blackouts". The Blackouts played to standing room only audiences, and Berry was asked to choreograph and perform the opening number for the show when it played the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

Berry eventually returned to Las Vegas again in the 1970’s at the invitation of Andy Griffith. Griffith, along with Berry and Jerry Van Dyke played Caesars Palace, where Berry performed song and dance numbers sandwiched by Andy and Jerry’s stand-up routines.

The Billy Barnes Review[link]

Actress Dee Arlen referred Berry for a role in the show In League with Ivy at the Cabaret Concert Theatre, a nightclub in Los Angeles. This show was where he met famed composer–impresario Billy Barnes who was the play’s composer. Barnes would bring Berry into The Billy Barnes Review ensemble, his next break, and he would perform in many of Barnes’ shows in the coming years.

While performing with Barnes, Berry worked with other performers that included Berry’s future wife, Jackie Joseph, as well as Joyce Jameson, Bert Convy, Patti Regan, Ann Morgan Guilbert, Lennie Weinrib, and sketch writer/director Bob Rodgers. Several cast albums were made.

In November 1959, the original cast of the Broadway show was replaced two weeks after a legal dispute with the producers over a canceled performance. The cast had missed their flight from Chicago after a promotional appearance on Playboy's Penthouse and refunds had to be made to the ticket holders. Berry was out of work and headed back to Los Angeles to find employment.

He performed in several stage shows in Los Angeles, singing, dancing and delivering a few lines. The press dubbed him "another Fred Astaire" and "the next Gene Kelly". His talent was also compared to that of Flamenco Dancer José Greco, legend Donald O'Connor, Ray Bolger and Jack Donohue. ^[2]

Television career[link]

Arthur Godfrey[link]

From 1946 to 1958, Arthur Godfrey had an evening television show called Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts. The show was a talent contest, and the winner would get a week’s work on Godfrey’s morning TV show, which was simulcast on radio. In 1957 Berry won, performed his week on the show and was then asked back for six more weeks. He traveled with Godfrey and performed on remote broadcasts in an Omaha stock yard, in Seattle at a lumber camp and at the Boeing aircraft plant and at the San Diego Zoo. Berry was responsible for coming up with a new routine for every show, which were aired daily. ^[1]

Carol Burnett[link]

Ken Berry and Carol Burnett in Once Upon a Mattress in 1972

The Billy Barnes Review was popular with Hollywood and one evening Carol Burnett was in Los Angeles and saw Berry in the show. She was appearing on The Garry Moore Show in New York and convinced the producers to sign Berry as a guest star. Burnett became a key ally for Berry, using him on her own special, which eventually became The Carol Burnett Show. Ken was one of Burnett’s most frequent guest stars along with Jim Nabors and Steve Lawrence.^[3]

A notable dramatic performance by Berry was 1982's Eunice special, which was based on The Carol Burnett Show sketch, The Family. The Family was somewhat of a pilot for Mama’s Family. Berry played Phillip, Eunice’s brother in the special; however he went on to play Vinton, a different brother on Mama’s Family.

His collaborations with Carol Burnett continued, and they appeared together in the 1972 CBS television special Once Upon A Mattress (twice, once in black and white and once in color), and in the 1993 Long Beach theatrical production of the From the Top.

Lucille Ball[link]

Berry’s tenure with The Billy Barnes Review also led to another important connection in his career when he was spotted by Lucille Ball. Ball quickly asked him to join her new talent development program she was starting at Desilu, similar to the "talent pools" (known as talent "programs") that the other studios had. He was under contract with Desilu for six months, performing for both Lucy and Billy at the same time. The reviews for The Billy Barnes Review were largely positive, and additional investors contributed the extra money needed to move the show from the York Playhouse to Broadway,^[4] which meant he had to take leave from Desilu.

After returning from New York in 1960, Berry was brought back to Desilu to play Woody, a bell hop, on The Ann Sothern Show which was set in a swank New York hotel. The character was the show’s 'Greek chorus of one, setting up the premise of the hotel guests at the beginning of each episode.

Later, in 1968, Ball asked Berry to guest star on The Lucy Show, where he played a bank client needing a loan to start a dance studio. Ken performed a tribute to the classic Fred Astaire number "One for My Baby" and duet with Ball for a rendition of "Lucy’s Back in Town".

Additional television roles[link]

After numerous smaller roles, Berry was eventually cast as one of three comic relief characters on Dr. Kildare, from 1961-1966. A regular on the series, Berry played Dr. Kapish.

F–Troop and Mayberry RFD[link]

Ken Berry, Andy Griffith and Buddy Foster in Mayberry RFD 1968

Berry continued doing guest roles and thought that he would at least be able to make a career as a day player, but while doing a small part on the short-lived George Burns - Connie Stevens sitcom Wendy & Me, both Burns and Stevens recommended him for the pilot of F-Troop for ABC, a western spoof where he played the accident-prone but lovable Captain Parmenter.

His first weekly role starring in a sitcom, Berry "danced around the house for weeks".^[1] Berry’s co-stars were Forrest Tucker and Larry Storch, both well-known performers. Berry called his time on F-Troop as “2 years of recess”^[1] as the entire cast spent time between takes trying to make each other laugh. His grace and agility allowed him to perform choreographed pratfalls over hitching posts, sabers, and trash cans as the accident-prone Captain Parmenter. He was noted for his dancing agility in one particular episode of the western, in which he walks down a boardwalk witlessly avoiding 13 hazards.

In 1967, during the second year of F-Troop, Dick Linke – who was Berry’s Manager (he also managed Andy Griffith and Jim Nabors) – pitched an F-Troop stage show to Bill Harrah, founder of Harrah's Entertainment which included a casino and hotel in Reno, Nevada. Harrah went for it and Berry, Larry Storch, Forrest Tucker and James Hampton put together a show, hiring writers and a choreographer to assist.

It was while performing the Reno show that they received word that F-Troop had been canceled due to a production/studio financial dispute.

The next year Berry was cast in a guest star role on The Andy Griffith Show as Sam Jones, a widowed farmer. The role was his introduction to Mayberry and he would take over the lead role once Griffith left the show. In 1968 Ken led the cast (most of the regulars stayed) of the newly titled Mayberry RFD.

While many^[who?] thought that the show would die a quick death once Andy Griffith left, the continuity with Griffith's previous show kept the ratings high. Series writers used his "trouper" talents in stories around church revues and talent contests. On the 1970 Mayberry RFD episode "The Charity", he and co-star Paul Hartman did a soft shoe dance together. Berry would sometimes end a show on the porch at dusk, serenading others with such songs as "Carolina Moon".^{[citation needed]}

In spite of finishing in 15th place for the year, Mayberry RFD was canceled in 1971 in what was called "the rural purge", where shows set in a bucolic locale (The Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres and Petticoat Junction) were replaced with the more hip fare of Norman Lear (All In The Family) and other modern shows like the The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

After Mayberry RFD, Berry went on to star in several TV Movies of the Week and his own summer replacement variety show on ABC called The Ken Berry 'Wow' Show in 1972, which ran for 5 episodes. This show was an opportunity for future stars Steve Martin, Cheryl Ladd and Teri Garr. The show was not picked up, however Berry kept busy.

Later television[link]

In 1973 Sherwood Schwartz wrote a Brady Bunch spin-off called Kelly's Kids, which featured Berry as the adoptive father of three diverse boys (black, white and Asian). The pilot failed to interest ABC, but the concept was revived later in Diff'rent Strokes and Webster.^{[citation needed]}

Over the next two decades Berry constantly guest starred on many other shows throughout his career including The Bob Newhart Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, several of Mitzi Gaynor’s specials, The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, The Donny & Marie Show, Love Boat, Fantasy Island, CHiPS and The Golden Girls.

Mama's Family[link]

In 1983 Berry was cast as Vinton Harper in Mama’s Family, a spin-off from The Carol Burnett Show. This was another opportunity to work with actors including the versatile Vicki Lawrence, Dorothy Lyman, Rue McClanahan, Betty White, and Beverly Archer during the 6 seasons of the show. Mama’s Family aired on NBC from 1983 – 1984 and in repeats until 1985. It was then picked up for first-run syndication from 1986 – 1990. The complete run totaled 130 episodes.

During and after Mama’s Family, Berry toured the US in various theatrical performances which included multiple performances of Sugar with co-stars such as Donald O'Connor, Mickey Rooney, Soupy Sales and Bobby Morse, The Music Man with Susan Watson (Patrick Swayze and Lisa Niemi were in the chorus), I Do! I Do! with Loretta Swit, and Gene Kelly's A Salute to Broadway with Howard Keel, and Mimi Hines. Kelly, Berry's idol, was to direct the production, but fell ill.^[1]

Commercials[link]

In his younger years, Berry signed with a modeling agency that put him in a variety of spots, including advertisements for tissues, cigarettes, cereal and a car commercial.^[1]

Years later, after signing with a commercial agent, Berry was a spokesman in commercials for Kinney Shoes from the mid-1970’s to the early 1980’s, singing and dancing to the "Great American Shoe Store" jingle.

Record albums[link]

Berry’s first recording experience came with the Billy Barnes’ cast albums, one from the Broadway performance of The Billy Barnes Review and the second in Billy Barnes’ L.A.

Then, in after an appearance on The Andy Williams Show, Williams asked Berry to record a solo album on his new Barnaby label. Backed by a full orchestra, Ken Berry RFD was released in 1970.

Personal life[link]

Berry married Jackie Joseph, a Billy Barnes cast mate (also famous as "Audrey" in the original Roger Corman cult hit The Little Shop of Horrors), on May 29, 1960. They eventually adopted two children (John and Jennifer). They divorced in 1977.

Berry has “loved cars and anything with wheels” since he was a young child, particularly smaller cars, and maintains a 1966 Mini Moke. An avid motorcyclist, he would camp and ride the local Los Angeles mountain ranges to relax.^[1]

Credits[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Ken Berry at the Internet Movie Database
• Ken Berry at the Internet Broadway Database
• Ken Berry First Televised Song and Dance Routine There Be Some Changes Made on YouTube
• Ken Berry Dramatic Performance on Eunice on YouTube
• Ken Berry at AllRovi

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