Griffith, often described as a shy loner, was a shadowy presence in Wilmington. "That's what kept the film industry going here," he said. "Matlock," Vassar added, helped pave the way for other series, notably "Dawson's Creek" and "One Tree Hill," to pick Southeastern North Carolina as a location. Griffith "was the main reason television came to Wilmington," said Bill Vassar, head of the EUE/Screen Gems studio complex in the Port City. (Although Griffith's character, Ben Matlock, supposedly lived and practiced in Atlanta, virtually all the series had previously been filmed at Universal Studios in Los Angeles.) The successful crime drama – which switched from NBC to ABC in 1993 – shot its last three seasons in Wilmington. In 1992, the "Matlock" star told his producers, "That's it – I'm going to North Carolina," said Johnny Griffin, director of the Wilmington Regional Film Office. He had been drawn to Manteo and Roanoke Island since he played Sir Walter Raleigh there in the long-running outdoor drama "The Lost Colony" from 1949 to 1953. Griffith, who was born and raised in Mount Airy died Tuesday morning at the age of 86 at his home near Manteo, on North Carolina's Outer Banks. For millions of fans, he was the grinning, friendly face of Mayberry or the folksy lawyer who always solved the crime and saved an innocent client.įor many area residents, though, Andy Griffith was the man who saved the Wilmington film industry.
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