Andy Griffith as Andy Taylor

Andy Griffith decided to leave The Andy Griffith Show in 1968, ending the series. He told PEOPLE in 1979 that he regretted that decision. The nine years that followed were a “dry spell,” he said. “I did five pilots that got nowhere, had two series that flopped.”

“A deep panic set in,” he said of his career. In the ‘70s, he appeared in miniseries like Centennial, From Here to Eternity and Roots: The Next Generations. Then in 1983, he was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome and was paralyzed for three months. Recuperation took six months of physical therapy.

Soon after, his career bounced back. He starred in the 1984 miniseries Fatal Vision and then in the TV movie Matlock, which was picked up for a series. “I’m working harder than ever,” he told PEOPLE in 1986.

The 1986 Andy Griffith Show reunion came out of him, Knotts and Howard presenting together at the Emmys in 1983. Matlock ran until 1995. He made a handful more media appearances, including in an episode of Dawson’s Creek and in 2003’s The Andy Griffith Show Reunion: Back to Mayberry, before he died in 2012 at age 86.

Griffith was married to Barbara Bray Edwards from 1949 to 1972. He was married to Solica Cassuto from 1973 to 1981. In 1983, he married Cindi Knight, who was with him until his death. “It’s a splendid marriage,” Griffith told PEOPLE in 1986. “Our thrust in life is to bring joy to each other.”

The actor and his first wife welcomed two children together by adoption, Dixie and Andy Jr.

Ron Howard as Opie

Ron Howard seemingly predicted his future, when, at age 6, he told Griffith and the show’s producers that he wanted to be a “writer-producer-director.” They bought him his first camera. “Andy was like a wonderful uncle to me,” he told PEOPLE in 1986. “He created an atmosphere of hard work and fun that I try to bring to my movies.”

Howard starred in another classic TV series, Happy Days, as Richie Cunningham, and in the beloved 1973 film American Graffiti.

Still, in the middle of that success, his first series remained special to him. Of the 1986 The Andy Griffith Show reunion, he told PEOPLE, “I didn’t think the experience would live up to my expectations. But the feelings are still there.”

Howard left Happy Days in 1980 to focus on his directing career. His first film was 1982’s Night Shift and in 1984 he found major success with Splash. At the time, he explained to PEOPLE how edifying it was. “It’s not like people always ran around saying I was a joke, but this is the realization of the potential people thought I had. It is real gratifying,” he said.

Howard’s many successful films include The Paper, A Beautiful Mind, Frost/Nixon, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Cinderella Man. In 2002, A Beautiful Mind won him the Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director. He is also a six-time Emmy winner, for projects including Arrested Development, Curious George and Jim Henson Idea Man. He also won a Grammy for The Beatles: Eight Days a Week.

Howard married Cheryl Alley, his high school sweetheart, in 1975. They share four children: Paige, Jocelyn, Reed and actress Bryce Dallas Howard.

Don Knotts as Barney Fife

For his role as Barney Fife, Don Knotts won five Emmys and he is widely regarded as one of the greatest comic actors of all time. “Andy and I just clicked,” Knotts told PEOPLE in 1986 of his bond with Griffith. At the time, he called the series “the best thing I’ve ever done.”

Knotts left the series in 1965, believing that the show was going to end. He signed a contract with Universal and appeared in movies like The Ghost and Mr. Chicken and How to Frame a Figg. Knotts also appeared in a series of Disney movies in the ‘70s, including The Apple Dumpling Gang, Gus and Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo.

In 1979, Knotts returned to TV full-time with a role as landlord Ralph Furley on Three’s Company. He stayed with the series for four seasons, until it ended in 1984. “It allowed him to reach a new audience, another generation who had not really seen The Andy Griffith Show,” his daughter Karen told Woman’s World in January 2025.

Knotts continued to work widely on TV and appeared in a recurring role as Les Calhoun on Matlock alongside Griffith. He also made frequent appearances on TV variety and talk shows. He worked widely as a voice actor in his later years; one of his last roles was in 2006’s Air Buddies.

Knotts was married to Kathryn Metz from 1947 to 1964; they shared children Thomas and Karen, an actress. Knotts was married to Loralee Czuchna from 1974 until they split in 1983. In 2002, he married Frances Yarborough. They were together until his 2006 death at age 81.

Frances Bavier as Aunt Bee

Bavier played Aunt Bee on both The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry R.F.D. from 1960 to 1970, making her the longest-tenured character in Mayberry. She won an Emmy for her role in 1967. She also appeared in one episode of Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.

“Many episodes focused on her and she was essential to the success of the show,” John Meroney, founder of the Andy Griffith Show Appreciation Society, told the Los Angeles Times in 1989. “When she started on the show she was 57 and had more experience going in than any of the other cast members. She was the only one from a large city and the fact that she could portray Aunt Bee showed the depth of her talent.” She rarely gave interviews.

In 1972, she retired from acting and moved to Siley City, N.C., which was often mentioned as a neighbor of Mayberry. She died in 1989 at age 86.

Aneta Corsaut as Helen Crump

Aneta Corsaut played Helen Crump, Sheriff Andy Taylor’s girlfriend, on The Andy Griffith Show. She had made her film debut in 1958’s The Blob alongside Steve McQueen. Helen and Andy married in the first episode of Mayberry R.F.D.

Corsaut continued to act after the series, appearing on episodes of Gunsmoke, Columbo, Emergency! and House Calls. She also appeared multiple times on Matlock alongside Griffith and Knotts.

Corsaut never married and had no children, but the 2016 book Andy and Don: The Making of a Friendship and a Classic American TV Show, by Daniel de Visé, claimed that she and Griffith had an affair while making The Andy Griffith Show.

Corsaut died in 1995 at age 62.

Jim Nabors as Gomer Pyle

Jim Nabors’ Gomer Pyle was so successful he got the show’s first spin-off, which aired from 1964 to 1969. During that time and for years after, he also worked as a singer in Las Vegas and sang on TV variety shows. Almost every year from 1972 to 2014, he sang “Back Home Again in Indiana” before the Indianapolis 500.

But by 1978, he had moved to Hawaii and gone into semi-retirement. “I felt my career had peaked after Gomer,” he told PEOPLE in 1986. “I didn’t want to stick around for lesser work.” But he did appear in 1982’s The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, 1983’s Stroker Ace and 1984’s Cannonball Run II.

In 2013, Nabors married Stan Cadwallader, his partner of 38 years. They’d met in the ‘70s when Cadwallader was a firefighter in Honolulu. They wed in Seattle, shortly after gay marriage became legal in Washington state.

“I’m 82 and he’s in his 60s and so we’ve been together for 38 years and I’m not ashamed of people knowing, it’s just that it was such a personal thing, I didn’t tell anybody,” Nabors told Hawaii News Now at the time. “I’m very happy that I’ve had a partner of 38 years and I feel very blessed. And, what can I tell you, I’m just very happy.” He also told the outlet that when he worked in Hollywood, he wasn’t public about his sexuality, but his coworkers knew.

Nabors died in 2017 at 87.

George Lindsey as Goober Pyle

George Lindsey’s The Andy Griffith Show character was originally Goober Beasley, but he was later renamed so he could be a cousin of Gomer Pyle. Reflecting on the series when he filmed the reunion in 1986, he told PEOPLE, “This was a family that we all grew up with. They’re going to have to bury me in my Goober hat.” The character also appeared regularly on Mayberry R.F.D.

Lindsey continued to appear on TV, including in an episode of M*A*S*H. He also voiced characters in Disney’s The Aristocats, Robin Hood and The Rescuers. From 1972 to 1992, Lindsey also played Goober on the country music show Hee Haw.

Lindsey was married to Joyanne Herbert from 1955 to 1991 when they divorced. They shared son George Jr. and daughter Camden. He was in a relationship with Anne Wilson until his death at 83 in 2012.