Here's Who Inherited Andy Griffith's Money After He Died

For decades, Andy Griffith was one of the most beloved actors across television and film. Known for his down-home sensibility and stellar acting acumen, he became a hugely influential figure in entertainment over the course of his lifetime. 

Griffith started his entertainment career in the early 1950s as part of a traveling singing, dancing, and monologue act with his first wife Barbara Edwards. In 1954, Griffith began making appearances on television where he served as a guest monologist on "The Ed Sullivan Show" and appeared in the television adaptation of the play, "No Time for Sergeants" (via Biography). Next, Griffith took to the silver screen appearing in Elia Kazan's 1957 film "A Face in the Crowd," and later reprised his "No Time for Sergeants" role in the play's 1958 big-screen adaptation, co-starring alongside comedian Don Knotts.

Griffith his best known as Sheriff Andy Taylor on the eponymous "The Andy Griffith Show." On the show, he reunited with Knotts and the two formed a wildly successful duo that would help make "The Andy Griffith Show" one of television's most popular shows over the course of its eight-year run.

A couple of decades later, Griffith would take on his other iconic role, that of lawyer Ben Matlock on "Matlock." Both "The Andy Griffith Show" and "Matlock" remain popular, and continue to run heavily in syndication to this day.