![]() ![]() “The Andy Griffith Show” was the first television series that I had knowledge of being set in North Carolina and every time someone mentioned Raleigh in an episode, this little girl”s heart would swell with pride that all over the country people were hearing the name of my home town. Mayberry may have been a fictional town that stood in for Griffith”s real hometown of Mt. Not only did the widowed father take care of his boy, Opie (with the help of Aunt Bee, or “Aint” Bee, as everyone on the show pronounced it), he saw to it that none of Mayberry”s fine denizens came to any harm. Though Griffith played Andy Taylor, the sheriff of Mayberry, and I”m quite sure his jurisdiction did not extend beyond the city limits, it felt like his avuncular, benevolent presence watched over all of us. (Read Alan Sepinwall’s fine appreciation here). I never met him, but for anyone in North Carolina who was raised watching “The Andy Griffith Show” whether in real time or in its continual reruns, Griffith was the closest thing we had to a human god who wasn”t famous for throwing a ball or was named Billy Graham. When I heard of Andy Griffith”s death this morning, it felt like I”d lost an uncle. Just last year, he reunited with Bruce Willis for a Die Hard-themed commercial that ran during the Super Bowl.I grew up in Raleigh, N.C., or The Big City, as it was referred to on “The Andy Griffith Show.” While teaching took up most of Gilyard’s time, he eventually returned to professional acting, picking up small roles in various films during the 2010s. ![]() ![]() He went back to school and earned a master of fine arts in theater from Southern Methodist University, and in 2006 he joined the film and theater department at UNLV as an associate professor. After working on the show for several seasons, Gilyard scored his biggest part: James “Jimmy” Trivette, the partner and best friend of Chuck Norris’ Cordell Walker on the long-running procedural Walker, Texas Ranger.Īfter Walker, Texas Ranger wrapped in 2001, Gilyard stepped away from Hollywood, but not from acting. The following year, Gilyard joined the cast of the popular legal drama Matlock, playing Conrad McMasters, a private investigator for Andy Griffith’s Ben Matlock. The Coercive World of No Jumper’s Adam22: ‘He Exploited Me From Day One’ He loved his UNLV family and, in particular, the students he instructed in his classroom. Nate Bynum, one of Gilyard’s colleagues, added, “Some may find it surprising to know that Clarence valued his appointment as a university professor as highly, maybe higher, then his illustrious career as a TV star. His generosity of spirit was boundless - he was always ready to contribute to projects and performances however possible.” “He had a national and international following through his celebrated work in the theatre, in film, and television. “He had many extraordinary talents and was extremely well-known in the university through his dedication to teaching and his professional accomplishments,” said Nancy Uscher, dean of the UNLV College of Fine Arts. No cause of death was given, though Gilyard had reportedly been suffering from a long illness (per the Las Vegas Review Journal). The University of Nevada, Las Vegas - where Gilyard spent over 15 years working as a film and theater professor - announced Gilyard’s death in a statement shared Monday, Nov. Clarence Gilyard Jr., a reliable character actor-turned-university professor with memorable roles in Die Hard, Matlock and Walker, Texas Ranger, has died. ![]()
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