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| Floyd Lawson | |
|---|---|
| The Andy Griffith Show character | |
 Howard McNear as Floyd Lawson | |
| First appearance |
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| Last appearance |
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| Portrayed by | |
| In-universe information | |
| Occupation | Barber |
| Affiliation |
|
| Spouse | Melba |
| Children | Norman Randall |
| Relatives |
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| Religion | Christian |
Floyd Lawson (Floyd the Barber) is a fictional character on the American sitcom The Andy Griffith Show. Floyd was primarily portrayed by actor Howard McNear.
Floyd the Barber was the slow-paced, somewhat absent-minded barber in the series' fictional town of Mayberry. He was born and raised in Mayberry, having descended from one of the town's original settlers, Daniel Lawson. He was a founding member of the town band, served as secretary of the Downtown Businessman's Club, and is a member of The Regal Order of the Golden Door to Good Fellowship. [1] : 65
Floyd has one son, Norman, with his wife, Melba. [1] : 65 Other family members mentioned throughout the run of the show include niece Virginia Lee. Floyd's nephew, Warren Ferguson, served as town deputy for a time. [1] : 65 Lamar Tuttle is also mentioned as Floyd's cousin. [2] [3] : 418
Floyd is first introduced in the first-season episode "Stranger in Town" and is played by actor Walter Baldwin. [4] [1] : 150 Baldwin established the running gag of Floyd's inability to trim sideburns evenly, which continued throughout the run of the series. Baldwin portrayed Floyd for just one episode, and the character otherwise differed from the later version, with most of the jokes stemming from the bespectacled Floyd's barely being able to see. From January, 1961 on, the role was played by Howard McNear, the actor most commonly associated with the role.
Over the first few seasons, the importance of Floyd the Barber to the series increased. Slowly, McNear changed his delivery of dialogue for Floyd from fast-paced to slower and slower as time went on. Floyd also became involved more in the plots of the various episodes as the show progressed.
In early 1963, midway through the third season, Howard McNear suffered a serious stroke. He was left with limited use of his arms and legs, especially his left arm, which rarely moved. [5] The producers of the series and Andy Griffith wanted McNear to return as Floyd when his health permitted it, and after about a year, McNear was talked into coming back, despite his initial reluctance. The series had a special chair constructed that McNear was able to sit in most of the time while on the set, as the stroke had left him only able to stand for short periods of time. Accordingly, the Floyd character then began to appear regularly again on the series towards the end of season four.
The last appearance of Floyd the Barber on The Andy Griffith Show was in the final episode of the seventh season. Howard McNear's health worsened and he was not able to return to the series for season eight, and he died less than a year later. To try to fill in his loss on the series, a new character named Emmett Clark (a fix-it man) was brought in. As announced on the series, Floyd had retired because he had earned enough money. Emmett (played by veteran character actor Paul Hartman) moved his fix-it shop from his home into Floyd's old barber shop location.
In Howard McNear's first appearance as Floyd, "Mayberry Goes Hollywood," the character is referred to as Floyd Colby and the barbershop was called "Colby's Tonsorial Parlor". [6] [1] : 132 Later Floyd's surname was established to be "Lawson."
Early in the series, Floyd has a son and a wife, although in at least one episode ("Floyd the Gay Deceiver"), he says he is a widower. [7] [1] : 132,156
Over the years, "Floyd the barber" has been used in a variety of television programming. Some examples include the following:
With the popularity of The Andy Griffith Show, interest in the influence of Mount Airy, NC as the inspiration for Mayberry grew. Russell Hiatt, a barber at Mt. Airy's City Barber Shop claimed to have cut Andy Griffith's hair, although this is disputed by Griffith. [10] City Barber Shop was established in 1929, and Hiatt began working there in 1946. In 1989, the name was changed to "Floyd's City Barber Shop". Whether Hiatt actually cut Griffith's hair when the actor had yet to become famous is uncertain. [11] Hiatt was only two years older than Griffith, so he would have had to have cut his hair before Griffith moved away from Mt. Airy to attend college in the late 1940s. Griffith and Hiatt would both have been teenagers at that time.
Andy Samuel Griffith was an American actor, comedian, television producer, singer, and writer whose career spanned seven decades in music and television. Known for his Southern drawl, his characters with a folksy-friendly personality, as well as his gruff but friendly voice, Griffith was a Tony Award nominee for two roles. He gained prominence in the starring role in director Elia Kazan's film A Face in the Crowd (1957) and No Time for Sergeants (1958) before he became better known for his television roles, playing the lead roles of Andy Taylor in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show (1960–1968) and Ben Matlock in the legal drama Matlock (1986–1995).
The Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom television series that was aired on CBS from October 3, 1960, to April 1, 1968, with a total of 249 half-hour episodes spanning eight seasons—159 in black and white and 90 in color.
Mount Airy is a city within Surry County, in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 10,676, an increase of 288 (+2.8%) from the 2010 census count of 10,388. As of 2020, the city was one of the most populous municipalities in Surry County. Mount Airy is located within the Piedmont Triad metropolitan region.
Mayberry is a fictional community that was the setting for two popular American television sitcoms, The Andy Griffith Show (1960–1968) and Mayberry R.F.D. (1968–1971); Mayberry was also the setting for a 1986 reunion television film titled Return to Mayberry. The town is also frequently mentioned in the spin-off program Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., and is seen when Pyle returns to visit his home town. Mayberry is said to be based on Andy Griffith's hometown of Mount Airy, North Carolina. Mount Airy is also known as Mayberry and called by both names by its residents.
Return to Mayberry is a 1986 American made-for-television romantic comedy film based on the 1960s sitcoms The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry R.F.D.. The film premiered on April 13, 1986, on NBC, and was the highest-rated television film of 1986. Sixteen of the original cast members reunited and reprised their roles for the film and its success could have led to additional Mayberry programs, but Griffith was committed to Matlock for the 1986–87 season.
Mayberry R.F.D. is an American television series produced as a spin-off continuation of The Andy Griffith Show. When star Andy Griffith decided to leave his series, most of the supporting characters returned for the retitled program, which ran for three seasons on the CBS Television Network from 1968 to 1971.
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. is an American sitcom that originally aired on CBS from September 25, 1964, to May 2, 1969. The series was a spin-off of The Andy Griffith Show, and the pilot episode was aired as the season finale of the fourth season of its parent series on May 18, 1964. The show ran for a total of 150 half-hour episodes spanning over five seasons, in black-and-white for the first season, and then in color for the remaining four seasons. In 2006, CBS Home Entertainment began releasing the series on DVD. The final season was released in November 2008.
Gomer Pyle is a fictional character played by Jim Nabors and introduced in the middle of the third season of The Andy Griffith Show.
Harold John Smith was an American actor. He is credited in over 300 film and television productions, and was best known for his role as Otis Campbell, the town drunk on CBS's The Andy Griffith Show and for voicing Owl and Winnie the Pooh in the first four original Winnie the Pooh shorts and later Winnie the Pooh Discovers the Seasons, Winnie the Pooh and a Day for Eeyore and in the television series, Welcome to Pooh Corner and The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. He also did a cameo in The Apartment as a drunken Santa Claus.
Howard Terbell McNear was an American stage, screen, and radio character actor. McNear is best remembered as the original voice of Doc Adams in the radio version of Gunsmoke and as Floyd Lawson on The Andy Griffith Show (1961–1967).
Bernard "Barney" Fife is a fictional character in the American television program The Andy Griffith Show, portrayed by comic actor Don Knotts. Barney Fife is a deputy sheriff in the slow-paced, sleepy southern community of Mayberry, North Carolina. He appeared in the first five seasons (1960–65) as a main character, and, after leaving the show towards the end of season five, made a few guest appearances in the following three color seasons (1965–68). He also appeared in the first episode of the spin-off series Mayberry R.F.D. (1968–1971), and in the 1986 reunion television film Return to Mayberry. Additionally, Barney appeared in the Joey Bishop Show episode "Joey's Hideaway Cabin", and, unnamed, in the first episode of The New Andy Griffith Show.
Sheriff Andrew Jackson "Andy" Taylor is the lead character on The Andy Griffith Show, an American sitcom which aired on CBS, (1960–1968). He also appears in the Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. episode "Opie Joins the Marines," five episodes of Mayberry R.F.D. (1968–1971), and the reunion television film Return to Mayberry (1986). He made a cameo appearance in the USMC episode "Gomer Goes Home." The character made his initial appearance in an episode of The Danny Thomas Show entitled "Danny Meets Andy Griffith." In the CBS special The Andy Griffith - Don Knotts - Jim Nabors Show (1965), Andy and Barney are featured in a musical sketch about their friendship and recreate some classic moments between the characters. Andy Griffith, as Sheriff Taylor, also has a brief comedy cameo in Rowan and Martin at the Movies (1969), a PSA short subject promoting the purchase of U.S. Savings Bonds. Griffith appeared with costar Ron Howard in character as Andy and Opie Taylor in a 2008 commercial for the presidential campaign of Barack Obama. Andy Taylor appeared in all 249 episodes of The Andy Griffith Show and was played by comedian, musician, and actor Andy Griffith.
Aunt Bee is a fictional character from the 1960 American television sitcom The Andy Griffith Show played by Frances Bavier. The character migrated to the spinoff Mayberry R.F.D. (1968–1971) when The Andy Griffith Show ended its run in 1968, and remained for two years. Though she was the aunt of Sheriff Andy Taylor, virtually every character in Mayberry, even those in her age bracket such as Floyd and Emmett, called her "Aunt Bee".
Elizabeth Ann Theresa Lynn was an American actress. She played Thelma Lou, Deputy Barney Fife's girlfriend, on The Andy Griffith Show. During the 1940s and 1950s, she appeared in many films, including Sitting Pretty (1948), June Bride (1948), the original Cheaper by the Dozen (1950), and Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956). She also played a major role in an episode of the television series Little House on the Prairie.
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Helen Crump is a fictional dramatic character on the American television program The Andy Griffith Show (1960–1968). Helen was a schoolteacher and became main character Sheriff Andy Taylor's girlfriend, and eventually, wife. Helen first appears in the third-season episode "Andy Discovers America" (1963). She also appeared in spinoff program Mayberry R.F.D. (1968–1971), as well as the reunion telemovie, Return to Mayberry (1986). Helen was portrayed by Aneta Corsaut.
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The New Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom that was broadcast in the United States on CBS in 1971 on Fridays at 8:30 ET. It debuted on January 8, 1971, and ended on May 21, 1971.
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