What Was Andy Griffith’s First Movie Role?

Most of us know Andy Griffith from his time spent keeping the peace in Mayberry, or seeking justice in the courtroom on Matlock. But before he was Sheriff Andy Taylor or Ben Matlock, Griffith logged some other roles that were not quite as iconic, but still interesting — including the role of Lonesome Rhodes in his first film, 1957’s  A Face in the Crowd, which airs tonight at 8pm EST on TCM.

Griffith had his first career breakthrough several years prior, in 1953, when he recorded a comic monologue called “What It Was, Was Football,” where he played a wide-eyed country preacher trying to make sense of a football game. The record climbed the charts and suddenly, Griffith was being invited to perform on variety shows, telling his football story or doing a version where he explained Romeo and Juliet in that same rural drawl. Audiences found him charming, and producers took notice.