Don Haggerty

Poughkeepsie, New York, USA

Biography

Don Haggerty (b. July 3, 1914, Poughkeepsie, New York – d. August 19, 1988, Cocoa Beach, Florida) was an American film actor appearing in films in the 1940s and 1950s.  Before entering films in 1947, Haggerty was a Brown University athlete and served in the US military. Usually cast as tough policemen or cowboys, he appeared in a number of memorable films including Sands of Iwo Jima (1949), The Asphalt Jungle (1951), Angels in the Outfield (1951) and The Narrow Margin. The B-movie actor continued to appear in films until the early 1980s. In the 1955-1956 season, he appeared as the outlaw Sam Bass in an episode of Jim Davis's syndicated Stories of the Century. In 1956-1957, Haggerty appeared as Sheriff Elder in Rod Cameron's syndicated western-themed crime drama, State Trooper. He appeared at this time in three episodes of the syndicated western 26 Men about the Arizona Rangers. In 1959, he guest starred in Bruce Gordon's docudrama about the Cold War, Behind Closed Doors. In 1960, Haggerty guest starred on the NBC crime drama Dan Raven starring Skip Homeier. He also appeared as Joe Wine in the 1961 episode "Alien Entry" of the syndicated series The Blue Angels. About this time, he also appeared in the episode "The Green Gamblers" of the crime drama The Brothers Brannagan.

Movies

The Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised on CBS between October 3, 1960 and April 1, 1968. Andy Griffith portrays the widowed sheriff of the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina. His life is complicated by an inept, but well-meaning deputy, Barney Fife, a spinster aunt and housekeeper, Aunt Bee, and a precocious young son, Opie. Local ne'er-do-wells, bumbling pals, and temperamental girlfriends further complicate his life. Andy Griffith stated in a Today Show interview, with respect to the time period of the show: "Well, though we never said it, and though it was shot in the '60s, it had a feeling of the '30s. It was when we were doing it, of a time gone by." The series never placed lower than seventh in the Nielsen ratings and ended its final season at number one. It has been ranked by TV Guide as the 9th-best show in American television history. Though neither Griffith nor the show won awards during its eight-season run, series co-stars Knotts and Bavier accumulated a combined total of six Emmy Awards. The show, a semi-spin-off from an episode of The Danny Thomas Show titled "Danny Meets Andy Griffith", spawned its own spin-off series, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., a sequel series, Mayberry R.F.D., and a reunion telemovie, Return to Mayberry. The show's enduring popularity has generated a good deal of show-related merchandise. Reruns currently air on TV Land, and the complete series is available on DVD. All eight seasons are also now available by streaming video services such as Netflix.

More info
The Andy Griffith Show
1960