Andy Griffith, eponymous star of 60s' CBS sitcom and classic 1957 film A Face In The Crowd, dead in NC at 86

Griffith had suffered a heart attack in 2000, followed by quadruple-bypass surgery in 2007. Best known for his TV work in The Andy Griffith Show and Matlock, Griffith's greatest role was in Eliah Kazan's 1957 meditation on a fictional broadcasting demagogue, Lonesome Rhodes, a character rumored to bear more than a passing similarity to Arthur Godfrey's real life persona.

From CBS:

Griffith graduated with a degree in music from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1949. He moved to New York and soon became a regular on "The Ed Sullivan Show" and "The Steve Allen Show" in the 1950s. In 1955, he starred in Broadway's "No Time for Sergeants," earning him a Tony nomination for outstanding supporting actor. Two years later, Griffith made his film debut in "A Face in the Crowd," alongside actress Patricia Neal. In 1960, he found himself with another Tony nomination, this time for best actor in the musical, "Destry Rides Again," in 1960.

Excerpt from A Face In The Crowd, also starring Patricia Neal, who sure knew what movies to pick.