The film demonstrated, quite early on, the power that television can have upon the masses. Co-starring Patricia Neal, Walter Matthau, Tony Franciosa, and Lee Remick (in her film début), this now-classic film, directed by Elia Kazan, showcases Griffith's powerful talents in his debut film role. Although he plays a "country boy", this "country boy" is manipulative and power-hungry, a drifter who becomes a television host and uses his show as a gateway to political power. In 1957 Griffith starred in the film A Face in the Crowd. With Patricia Neal in A Face in the Crowd (1957) Coast Guard sailor in the feature film Onionhead (1958) it was neither a critical nor a commercial success.ĭramatic role in A Face in the Crowd (1957) File:Kazan-Face-still.jpg No Time for Sergeants is considered the direct inspiration for the later television situation comedy Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. Griffith later reprised his role for the film version (1958) the film also featured Don Knotts, as a corporal in charge of manual-dexterity tests, marking the beginning of a life-long association between Griffith and Knotts. The show, with a score by Harold Rome, ran for more than a year. His Broadway career also included the title tole in the 1957 musical, Destry Rides Again, co-starring Delores Gray. He expanded that role in a full-length theatrical version of the same name (October 1955) on Broadway in New York City, New York. Air Force - on The United States Steel Hour, a television anthology series. Griffith starred in a one-hour teleplay version of No Time for Sergeants (March 1955) - a story about a country boy in the U.S. Released as a single in 1953 on the Colonial label, the monologue was a hit for Griffith, reaching number nine on the charts in 1954. Griffith's early career was as a monologist, delivering long stories such as What it Was, Was Football, which is told from the point of view of a rural backwoodsman trying to figure out what was going on in a football game. At UNC he was president of the UNC Men's Glee Club and a member of the Alpha Rho Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, America's oldest fraternity for men in music.Īfter graduation, he taught English for a few years at Goldsboro High School in Goldsboro, North Carolina. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and graduated with a bachelor of music degree in 1949. He began college studying to be a Moravian preacher, but he changed his major to music and became a part of the school's Carolina Play Makers. He performed as a cast member of the play for several years, playing a variety of roles, until he finally landed the role of Sir Walter Raleigh, the namesake of North Carolina's capital. Griffith was delighted when he was offered a role in The Lost Colony, a play still performed today on historic Roanoke Island, part of the history filled Outer Banks, the barrier islands that sit along most of coastal North Carolina. Mickey nurtured Griffith's talent throughout high school until graduation in 1944. Griffith was raised Baptist and looked up to Ed Mickey, a minister at Grace Moravian Church, who led the brass band and taught him to sing and play the trombone. A growing love of music, particularly swing, would change his life. He was a shy student, but once he found a way to make his peers laugh, he began to come into his own.Īs a student at Mount Airy High School, Griffith cultivated an interest in the arts, and he participated in the school's drama program. By the time he entered school he was well aware that he was from what many considered the "wrong side of the tracks". His father instilled a sense of humor from old family stories. Like his mother, Griffith grew up listening to music. In 1929, when Griffith was three years old, his father took a job working as a carpenter and was finally able to purchase a home in Mount Airy's " blue-collar" southside. Without a crib or a bed, he slept in drawers for a few months. At a very young age, Griffith had to live with relatives until his parents could afford to get a home of their own. Griffith was born in Mount Airy, North Carolina, the only child of Geneva ( née Nunn) and Carl Lee Griffith.
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