Andy Griffith
0Loading crowd target
0Loading crowd target
7correct to beat the crowd
157 free Andy Griffith trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
50 free Andy Griffith trivia questions with answers. Andy Griffith was one of television's most beloved and enduring stars, best known for his iconic role as Sheriff Andy Taylor in The Andy Griffith Show. This trivia quiz will test your knowledge of his legendary career, memorable characters, and lasting impact on American television. How well do you know the man behind Mayberry?
30 of 157 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What did North Carolina rename in Andy Griffith's honor near his hometown in 2002?
A stretch of highway
A stretch of highway: part of US 52 became the Andy Griffith Parkway, and Griffith himself came home to speak at the dedication.
Q 02Andy Griffith earned a degree in what field from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill?
Music
Griffith graduated from UNC in 1949 with a bachelor's degree in music, having entered as a pre-divinity student before switching majors.
Q 03In the 1969 comedy 'Angel in My Pocket', Andy Griffith played what kind of professional?
A minister
A minister: Griffith's Reverend Sam Whitehead takes his first pulpit in a feuding Kansas town, where his reckless brother-in-law turns the church boiler into a still.
Q 04In a 1963 'Andy Griffith Show' episode, which animal becomes a walking bomb after eating dynamite?
A goat
A goat belonging to a local farmer swallows the dynamite in 'The Loaded Goat', leaving Andy and Barney to coax him gently out of town before anything jolts him.
Q 05In which 1984 true-crime miniseries did Griffith play a prosecutor, two years before 'Matlock' began?
Fatal Vision
Fatal Vision cast Griffith as the prosecutor pursuing Green Beret doctor Jeffrey MacDonald; the performance is credited with inspiring the lawyer series in which he switched to the defense.
Q 06Why did 'The Andy Griffith Show' end in 1968?
Griffith left
Griffith left by choice after eight seasons, so CBS kept the town, renamed the show and carried on in the same Monday slot with a new leading man.
Q 07Which actress played the radio reporter who discovers Lonesome Rhodes in 'A Face in the Crowd'?
Patricia Neal
Patricia Neal's Marcia Jeffries finds him in a small-town jail, builds him into a star, and finally exposes him to his fans by leaving a microphone live.
Q 08Andy Griffith's 1997 Grammy-winning album, I Love to Tell the Story, was a collection of what?
Hymns
Hymns made Griffith a platinum-selling singer in his seventies, decades after he had abandoned his youthful dream of a singing career for comedy.
Q 09Which actress played the pie-baking Jenna opposite Griffith in the 2007 film 'Waitress'?
Keri Russell
Keri Russell's Jenna invents pies named for her troubles, such as Bad Baby Pie, while Griffith's gruff old Joe is one of her regular customers.
Q 10Andy Griffith died at his home in Manteo, on which North Carolina island?
Roanoke
Roanoke Island had been home for decades: Griffith first went there as a young actor in a summer outdoor drama, then settled near Manteo for good.
Q 11On which variety show did Griffith make his national TV debut in 1954, performing a comic monologue?
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show booked the unknown comic on the strength of his hit comedy record, and by the following year he was starring on Broadway.
Q 12Who won the 1960 Tony for Best Actor in a Musical, beating Griffith's Destry Rides Again?
Jackie Gleason
Jackie Gleason won for Take Me Along, leaving Griffith with two Tony nominations and no wins; that autumn he swapped Broadway for a sheriff's badge in Mayberry.
Q 13What was the last film Andy Griffith appeared in, released in 2009?
Play the Game
Q 21What was the original network that aired 'Matlock' before it moved to ABC?
NBC
NBC built the show around Griffith after its programming chief admired his turn as a prosecutor in a 1984 miniseries; ABC took over for the last three seasons.
Q 22Which president gave Andy Griffith the Presidential Medal of Freedom?
George W. Bush
George W. Bush did the honors in 2005, quoting Griffith's own verdict on why Mayberry lasted: 'It was about love.'
Q 23Which real-life bluegrass band played the Darling boys on 'The Andy Griffith Show'?
The Dillards
The Dillards played the sons of the backwoods Darling clan from 1963 to 1966, and came back in the same roles for the 1986 reunion film.
Play the Game has a ladies'-man grandson coach Griffith's lonely octogenarian widower, Grandpa Joe, back into the dating game.
Q 14How did Don Knotts come to be cast as Barney Fife on 'The Andy Griffith Show'?
He phoned Griffith with the idea
He phoned Griffith with the idea after watching the pilot, suggesting the sheriff needed a deputy; the two had been castmates in No Time for Sergeants.
Q 15Who shares Griffith's birthday, June 1, 1926?
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was born in Los Angeles that same day; she had died before his sitcom began its third season, while he went on working into his eighties.
Q 16Don Knotts rejoined Griffith on 'Matlock' in the recurring role of Ben's what?
Neighbor
Neighbor Les Calhoun arrived in 1988 already in trouble: Knotts's character was accused of murdering the car salesman who had sold him a lemon, and Ben defended him.
Q 17What medical condition did Andy Griffith suffer from in 1983 that temporarily paralyzed his lower legs?
Guillain-Barré Syndrome
Guillain-Barré Syndrome paralyzed his legs within hours, he recalled; after months of therapy he walked again and went on to play Ben Matlock.
Q 18In the outdoor drama The Lost Colony, which historical figure did Andy Griffith eventually play?
Sir Walter Raleigh
Sir Walter Raleigh, the colony's sponsor, was the lead Griffith worked up to over several summers in Paul Green's pageant, after starting in smaller parts.
Q 19In 2010, Andy Griffith starred in a government TV ad explaining changes to which program?
Medicare
Medicare turned 45 the day the spot was released; TV's most trusted sheriff was cast to reassure older viewers about the new health care law.
Q 20Who composed the whistled theme of 'The Andy Griffith Show', and did the whistling himself?
Earle Hagen
Earle Hagen did the whistling on the recording himself, although by his own account he had never whistled before in his life, and never did again.
Q 24In 2001, Andy Griffith guest-starred on which teen drama filmed in his home state?
Dawson's Creek
Dawson's Creek was shot in Wilmington, the same coastal studio town where Matlock had filmed its last seasons.
Q 25Which character from 'The Andy Griffith Show' was known for locking himself in jail when he was drunk?
Otis Campbell
Otis Campbell, the town drunk, let himself into the cell with the key and let himself out again when sober.
Q 26In 'No Time for Sergeants', Griffith's draftee Will Stockdale joins which service?
The Air Force
The Air Force gets the guileless Stockdale, whose eagerness so upsets Sergeant King's quiet barracks that one scheme to humiliate him ends with the sergeant demoted instead.
Q 27Frugal lawyer Ben Matlock, despite his high fees, loved which food?
Hot dogs
Hot dogs were his constant craving; Griffith himself reportedly disliked the character at first for being so vain and so cheap.
Q 28To which North Carolina town, often name-dropped in Mayberry, did Frances Bavier retire?
Siler City
Siler City became the New York-born actress's real home: she spent her retirement in a town her own sitcom kept mentioning, and is buried there.
Q 29In which city did Ben Matlock run his private law practice?
Atlanta
Atlanta suited a character reportedly modeled on Bobby Lee Cook, a real-life defense attorney from the same state.
Q 30Under what churchly persona was Griffith billed on his 1953 comedy monologue records?
Deacon
Deacon Andy Griffith was the name on the label; the record's narrator is a bewildered country fellow describing a rough game he has never seen before.