07/05/12 — Andy Griffith already laid to rest

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Andy Griffith already laid to rest

By From staff reports
Published in News on July 5, 2012 1:46 PM

MANTEO -- Actor Andy Griffith, who died Tuesday morning at the age of 86, was buried within hours on his estate near Manteo, family and friends said.

Griffith, a North Carolina native who made famous the character of Sheriff Andy Taylor in the long-running "Andy Griffith Show," and later starred as a Southern lawyer in the popular TV series "Matlock," died about 7 a.m. He was laid to rest before noon, according to news reports.

Griffith, who taught at Goldsboro High School for several years before making it big in entertainment, guarded his privacy intensely throughout his career and made few public appearances in his home state.