Andy Griffith is best known for his appearances as Sheriff Andy Taylor
on The Andy Griffith’s Show and as defense attorney Ben Matlock in the series Matlock.
While the beloved actor put on performances that would delight fans for decades,
his female co-stars didn’t get such a great ride. On both shows, it wasn’t uncommon for actresses
playing Griffith’s love interests to abruptly disappear from the production with no
explanation to fans as to why they had disappeared and no resolution of the character’s storylines.
It wasn’t just Andy Griffith’s characters who were unlucky himself. The actor himself
struggled to make relationships work, even the ones he had with his on-screen sweethearts.
But what was it about the beloved actor that made it so hard for him to get along with women?
Keep watching to find out the real reasons for Andy Griffith’s failed romances.
Body The Early Days of The Andy Griffith’s Show
Fans of The Andy Griffith Show will know that the main character,
Andy Griffith’s had few lasting love interests on the show. Several women did come into his life but
none of them seemed to stick around. The trouble started from his very
first onscreen girlfriend, Ellie Walker, played by Elinor Donahue.
According to Griffith, they were lucky to get her on the show.
When she landed the part and met with the producers, all she knew was that she was
going to be on the Andy Griffith show. She had no idea what the part would be like. She was excited
and nervous, wanting to do a good job to follow up from her successful role on Father Knows Best.
She was introduced onto the show as a young woman who moved to Mayberry to take over the town’s
pharmacy from her retiring uncle. She was supposed to stir up romantic tension with Sheriff Taylor.
Even though she had signed a three-year contract with the show, things just didn’t work out.
She left after just 11 episodes. Donahue asked to leave her contract after just the first season,
citing personal problems as well as feeling “undermined” in her attempts to perform.
Griffith blamed himself for her decision. Donahue would go on to recall that Griffith
would often take lines that were intended for her character and give them to other male
actors, especially to his wacky on-screen sidekick Barney Fife, played by Don Knotts.
He claimed that the parts would be funnier coming from Knotts, but Donahue took the reallocation of
lines as a sign that her performance was underwhelming. Why else would they take
away the depth and richness of her character? Years later, the two actors would meet again,
with Donahue apologizing for leaving the show the way she did. Griffith’s words were kind but,
Donahue felt, his demeanor was cold. Interviewed by Richard Kelly, the author
of The Andy Griffith’s Show, Andy blamed his “peculiar nature” for his struggles with women.
He said that his difficult relationships with women made it difficult for him to write parts
for them. He didn’t know how they thought and felt, what they ought to say and do.
Griffith also admitted that he failed to ignite passion with his love interests in the show.
Andy Meets his Match According to Andy Griffith’s manager, Dick Linke,
it was Griffith’s real-life personality that caused his on-screen troubles, leading to him
never sharing a real kiss with a woman on camera. The struggles continued on into season two of
the show, with Taylor getting involved with Mary, the county nurse. Mary ended up being
played by two different characters in that one season, first by Julie Adams and then by
Sue Ane Langdon, but neither seemed able to sustain the role alongside Griffith.
Griffith and the other writers nearly gave up trying to set up
Taylor with a long-standing girlfriend or wife. Griffith’s trouble with women was persistent
and didn’t just affect his fictional romances. The way he appeared in the show — rarely showing
physical affection — is the way he was in real life. He didn’t know how to behave around women
nor how they should behave around him. One of his character’s more successful
relationships was with doe-eyed Mayberry school teacher, Helen Crump, played by Aneta Corsaut.
According to Richard Kelly, Corsaut effectively saved the show. After years of struggling to find
a stable romantic interest for Andy Taylor, Corsaut stepped in and made it work. She
possessed an elegance, poise, and innocence that made her the perfect companion for the
awkward and in some ways insensitive Griffith. While pharmacist Ellie Walker was too aggressive
and Nurse Peggy too sexual, Corsaut was able to portray
a platonic affection which put Andy at ease. “She could have been his sister,’ says Kelly.
Andy Taylor’s future wife shows up in the third season of the show.
As their on-screen romance blossomed, Griffith started to have feelings for Corsaut.
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already and keep watching to find out the real reasons behind Andy Griffith’s failed romances.
On-Screen Love Interests or Real Life Romances? Griffith’s real-life marriage didn’t stop him
from pursuing his colleague. Even though the couple tried to keep their affair a secret,
the pair’s dalliances soon became common knowledge on the set.
The crew members even played a prank on Andy and Aneta. One of the crews dressed as a waiter and
delivered food to the hotel room where the couple were snuggled up together, infuriating Griffith.
Andy Taylor and Helen Crump ended up getting married in the spin-off series Mayberry R.F.D.
But unlike Taylor, Griffith did not have the help of a script to win over the real-life lady.
Despite already being married, Griffith desperately wanted Corsaut, proposing to her on a
number of occasions over the years. She turned him down every time. Corsaut herself never married.
Many fans of the show weren't too disappointed, preferring Taylor’s
short fling with the Nurse Peggy rather than his steady romance with Helen Crump.
It seems like the audience noticed the natural chemistry between Peggy and Taylor,
a spark that ignited a real-life romance between Griffith and nurse Peggy’s actress, Joanna Moore.
The reality of their affair only emerged years later. While Griffith’s affair with Anita Corsaut
was public knowledge even at the time, his romance with Moore only came out decades later in 2015.
Don Knotts revealed the affair to journalist Daniel de Visé who published about it
in his book Andy and Don: The Making of a Friendship and a Classic American TV Show.
Joanna Moore didn’t have any bitterness towards the show or her fellow cast members after the
affair ended. Speaking in a 1962 interview she recalled the refreshing honesty of everyone on
the show and how cast and crew alike were able to simply communicate and resolve any problems that
came up. It was shocking to her looking back. Griffith’s however didn’t find it so smooth.
During the years of the show, he found it hard to separate between the two Andy’s,
feeling like his on-screen persona was starting to create real-life expectations.
After punching through a wall on set, Griffith went to seek professional help
on the advice of the show’s producer. Matlock — Fresh Start, Familiar Problems
Even after The Andy Griffith’s Show, the actor’s trouble with women persisted.
The revolving door of on-screen love interests continued to puzzle viewers on
Griffith’s second-biggest series, Matlock. Assistant District Attorney Julie March,
played by Julie Sommars, acted as the adversary to defense attorney Ben Matlock,
portrayed by Griffith. However, the tension between the two was limited to the courtroom and
never seemed to find its way into the bedroom. Sommars stayed with the show from its second
season until 1992 when it was canceled by NBC. Even though Matlock was immediately
picked up by ABC there were still hurdles to overcome before Matlock
would once again reappear on viewers screens. Griffith was starting to get fed up. The two-hour
movies that the studio wanted from him would take up too much of his time. Griffith’s agent told
him to just forget the whole thing. Desperate to keep the show alive,
ABC came back with a counter-offer — they would relocate the whole show closer to
Griffith to make things more convenient for him. They even agreed to rent him a house.
So, Matlock didn’t just move studios but also locations, relocating to Griffith’s home state of
North Carolina to accommodate the show’s star. Unwilling to move from her idyllic home,
Sommars refused to move along with the show and left acting entirely with the exception of one
last appearance across from Matlock in 1994. In an interview with Life magazine,
Sommars recalled how she couldn’t leave behind her dreamy California house,
which represented “the beauty of life” to her. According to Sommars, acting was something she
just couldn’t fake. She needed to feel everything for real and she needed the
support of her friends, family, and carefully cultivated home environment on the West coast.
Fans were shocked that after 6 straight seasons of being a staple in Matlock’s life
that Julie March could simply disappear without so much as a goodbye scene or
even a nostalgic reminiscence from Matlock. Right up to the end, Andy Griffith just couldn’t
make love work for him. Outro
Now it’s time to hear from you.
Which was your favorite of Andy Griffith's romances? His electric affair with Joanne
Moore aka Nurse Peggy or his steady burn with Aneta Corsaut as Helen Crump?
Let us know in the comment section below.
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