He was the governor. Next year, he’ll be the sheriff. In The Last Stand, Arnold Schwarzenegger plays the sheriff of a small town on the Mexican border that must stop a heavily armed drug kingpin and his henchmen after the extreme baddie breaks out of prison and makes a run for Mexico. If you’re wondering how an extremely muscular dude with an Austrian accent ends up the sheriff of a podunk North-of-the-Border town, Schwarzenegger’s character has a back story: He’s a former Los Angeles cop who departed the force after a bungled police operation left his partner crippled. (I start to speak with an Austrian accent after I spend more than two weeks in L.A., too.)
In addition to heralding Arnold’s return in a major role, The Last Stand will also mark the English-language debut of South Korean director Kim Jee-Woon (The Good, The Bad, The Weird and I Saw The Devil) and features what looks like a demented Johnny Knoxville playing a cross between Murdock from The A Team and Barney Fife from The Andy Griffith Show. Check out the trailer below, which contains at least one potential catch phrase — “I’m the Sheriff” — which is practically guaranteed to become a t-shirt.
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That sound you hear is the sound of unwrapped Werther’s Originals rolling across the linoleum floor after every memaw and pepaw dropped their favorite candy to cover their mouths in sadness at the news that the star of the only shows they watch has gone up to the great big Mayberry in the sky. Just a day before the Fourth of July, America has lost one of its national treasures. Andy Griffith’s good friend Bill Friday tells WITN that Ben Matlock and Sheriff Andy Taylor passed away this morning in North Carolina. Andy was 86.
Bill Friday says that Andy died early this morning at his home in Dare County. Most know Andy from Matlock and The Andy Griffith Show, but he was also in Waitress and Pray for the Wildcats. While reading about Andy on Wikipedia, I learned that was never nominated for an Emmy for Matlock or The AG Show. I know, pick up those Werther’s and drop them again.
Rest in peace, Andy Griffith. Grampa Simpson will never be the same again.
A star of Broadway, movies and television, Andy Griffith died Tuesday at his home on Roanoke Island, North Carolina. The once aspiring preacher, trombone player and music teacher, he landed his first movie role in A Face in the Crowd in 1957. But it was his role as the affable and folksy-wise Sheriff Andy Taylor in the 1960s sitcom The Andy Griffith Show that won him legions of fans.
Griffith had already had some experience in the limelight by the time the hit television show hit the air, according to The New York Times, which reported Griffith’s passing, which received confirmation by the Dare County sheriff Doug Doughtie today. He starred in the Broadway play No Time for Sergeants followed by Face (one of six movies during his career) to good reviews. He later starred in the 1980s and ’90s courtroom television show Matlock. Still, the fictional town of Mayberry will forever be etched in fans’ memories when it comes to Griffith. His lovable mess-up deputy Barney Fife (Don Knotts), Gomer Pyle, young son Opie (Ron Howard) and Aunt Bee (Frances Bavier) debuted at number four in the ratings and never dipped below the top 10. It even hit number one its last season in 1968 and it continues in syndication.
Griffith’s career slid after the show though he had signed a five-year deal with Universal Pictures, though he never received offers that appealed to him. He told The Virginia Pilot in 2008: “I thought I was hot stuff and go right into the movies. It didn’t work out that way.” After some false starts on follow up shows in the ’70s, he made some made-for-TV movies, but more success followed with his role as a lawyer in the series Matlock which debuted in…
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