“Extra’s” Ben Lyons sat down with director Ron Howard to discuss
his friend and mentor, Andy Griffith.  Ron Howard Remembers Andy
Griffith: 'He Had a Very Honest Voice' Getty Images Howard
understood why Griffith was so beloved. “I think there was
something very authentic about Andy, not that he was like Andy
Taylor on Mayberry, although a part of him was. He had a very
honest voice and a lot of respect for people.”  As a young boy,
Howard shot 209 episodes of the “Andy Griffith Show” and said
what he remembers the most was the laughter on set. “There was a
tremendous amount of just playing on the set -- but never at the
expense of the schedule. He actually proved that you didn’t have
to be neurotically in some state of anxiety to do good work.
We'd get our 12 pages of shooting done in a day but at some
point you would be laughing until you cried.”  Howard also
explained, “[Griffith] thought that the Andy and Obie
relationship took some inspiration from the relationship my dad
and I had.”  Ron remembered that