• Cindi Knight is the third wife of American actor Andy Griffith and remained with him until his death in 2012
• They met on the set of Murder in Coweta County and married in 1983
• Andy had two children from a previous marriage
• Andy's net worth at the time of his death was $60 million and Cindi inherited a portion of it
• Cindi has middle-length dark brown hair, green eyes and her net worth is estimated to be around $16 million
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Cindi Knight is famous for being the third wife of the popular American actor Andy Griffith, who stayed with him until he died in 2012.
Early life and family
Cindi Knight was born on 2 May 1953, in North Carolina, USA – she holds American nationality, and her zodiac sign is Taurus. Cindi spent her childhood and youth in her hometown, and was supported by her family in her desire to become an actress. She matriculated from the local drama school, and started her acting career.
Career
Since 1982 Cindi has appeared in the series “Matt Houston”, landing the role of the secretary in the episodes “Who Would Kill Ramona?” (1982) and “Fear for Tomorrow” (1983). The series aired for three seasons and was quite successful, having Lee Horsley and Pamela Hensley starring in the roles of Matt Houston and C.J. Parsons respectively.
The plot revolves around the private investigator and his cases which usually involved murders. After leaving the series, Cindi landed the role of Julia Turner in “Murder in Coweta County” (1983), sharing the screen with the legendary Johnny Cash, who played the role of Lamar Potts, and Cindi’s future husband, Andy Griffith, who portrayed the character of John Wallace.
Personal life, late husband Andy Griffith
Meeting on the set of “Murder in Coweta County”, Cindi and Andy felt mutual interest for each other and started dating. Andy had already recovered from his divorce from Greek actress Solica Cassuto, his second wife, who Andy married in 1973, and was ready for a new relationship. Cindi and Andy married in a year after they met, on 12 April 1983. The ceremony was private, and only family members and close friends were invited. Cindi became the step-mother for Andy’s children from his first marriage to Barbara Bray Edwards.
Andy married Barbara in 1949, and adopted a son, Andy Samuel “Sam” Griffith Jr., and a daughter, Dixie Nann Griffith. Cindi supported Andy when Sam died in 1996 after a long battle with alcoholism – Sam was a real estate developer, but his successful career didn’t help him to feel happy, so he drank a lot and eventually died from the effects of his habit.
Andy Griffith
Early years
Andy Samuel Griffith was born on 1 June 1926, in Mount Airy, North Carolina USA. His father was Carl Lee Griffith, who he was a carpenter, and his mother Geneva Nunn Griffith was a housewife. His childhood was quite difficult, as his parents struggled trying to get a house to live in, so meantime Andy lived with relatives. When his parents got their own house, at first it was totally empty, and Andy’s parents couldn’t even find a crib or a small bed for him to sleep in, so he spent the nights in dresser drawers.
Andy found that music helped him to escape from severe reality, so he listened to music whenever he could, especially in church which he often visited with his parents (Andy was raised Baptist). At the time he entered Mount Airy High School, he was already keen on arts and took part in the school’s drama club. Andy graduated from the University of North Carolina with a BA in music in 1949, though he’d started his education there to become a Moravian preacher.
The start of Andy’s acting career
Andy Griffith began his acting career appearing in the drama film “A Face in the Crowd” in 1957, portraying the character of Larry “Lonesome” Rhodes. Then he starred in “No Time for Sergeants” (1957), “Onionhead” (1958) and “The Second Time Around” (1961). He then stopped appearing in movies, as he was busy starring in various TV series for almost a decade, such as “Make Room for Daddy” and “Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.”, but his biggest deal was “The Andy Griffith Show” (1960–1968) in which he played the role of the widowed sheriff, Andy Taylor.
The show had 249 episodes, written by Arthur Stander, the veteran writer known for “The Danny Thomas Show”. In 1969 Andy got back to films and appeared in “Angel in My Pocket”, “Hearts of the West” (1975) and “Rustlers’ Rhapsody” (1985). However, he kept on working in TV sitcoms, in which he was always welcomed both by directors and by the audience.
Further acting career and first serious health problems
Since 1970 Andy’s popularity rose so high that he appeared in up to three movies a year: in “The Mod Squad”, “The Strangers in 7A” and “Hawaii Five-O” in 1972 and “Pray for the Wildcats”, “Winter Kill” and “Savages” in 1974. In 1976 Andy also worked hard, accepting all invitations from directors and landing roles in “Street Killing”, “Six Characters in Search of an Author” and “Frosty’s Winter Wonderland”, also appearing in the episode entitled “Angel of Mercy” in the popular TV series “The Bionic Woman”.
He went on landing roles in more movies and series, until he found that he had serious problems with health. In 1983 Andy was diagnosed with the Guillain–Barré syndrome, which chained him to bed for a long seven months, paralysis in his legs from the knees and down.
Cindi took care of her sick husband
Even though they had just married, Cindi wasn’t scared by the health issues her husband faced. She supported him and assured him that he would soon recover and get back to work. She spent a lot of time by his side, often taking his children to him to help him to hold on and believe in his recovery. By the beginning of 1984 Andy could walk again, and was eager to get back to work, taking only a minor role in two episodes of the series “Fatal Vision” – everybody understood that it would support Andy, but at the same time wouldn’t make him weak again, so Andy refused other job opportunities until 1985.
Last works
After appearing in several TV movies, such as “Crime of Innocence” (1985), “Diary of a Perfect Murder” (1986) and “Return to Mayberry” (1986), Andy appeared in the main role in Dean Hargrove’s legal drama series “Matlock” (1986–1995), portraying Ben Matlock, the criminal-defense attorney. After several more roles in TV shows and movies, Andy faced new troubles with his health and quit acting in 2003, his last appearance on the TV screen happened in the TV special episode of his show, “The Andy Griffith Show Reunion: Back To Mayberry”. In May 200 Andy entered Sentara Norfolk General Hospital to undergo quadruple heart-bypass surgery, and had to keep an eye on his health even harder than before.
Andy Griffith’s music career
Andy was always fond of music, and was a musician himself, releasing 20 studio albums from 1953 to 2005.
Music was his main source of happiness when he gave up his acting career, but at the same time always meant something special to him, as he recorded many Christian songs, among them “Take My Hand Precious Lord”, “Somebody Bigger Than You and I” and “Just a Little Talk with Jesus”.
Further health problems and death
In September 2007 Andy fell and had to have hip surgery, which was performed in the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Cindi later shared that it made walking an even harder process that it was having the paralysis history. On 3 July 2012 Andy Griffith had a heart attack and died – his body was buried in less than five hours after his death, which made a lot of people ask the questions. The people who were close to the family didn’t even have a chance to see Andy and to pay their respects as normally happens. Cindi replied to all the questions: ‘Andy was a person of incredibly strong Christian faith, and was prepared for the day he would be called Home to his Lord’.
Andy died at 7am, while his body was buried in the grave by 11:30. ‘It’s not very common. I don’t recall having heard of it, and I’ve been here 32 years’, Larry F. Stegall shares his thoughts on the case, who works at the state’s Funeral Directors Association in the position of the executive director. However, the funeral spokesperson, who refused to have his name mentioned confirmed: ‘It had been planned for some time. This was the wish of his family’.
Appearance
Cindi has middle-length dark brown hair; she also wears bangs. She has green eyes. Her height, weight and vital statistics are unavailable.
Net worth and salary
Cindi’s late husband Andy Griffith had accumulated net worth of $60 million on the day of his death. She inherited part of his money along with Andy’s adopted daughter, Dixie Nann Griffith. As of 2019, Cindi’s net worth is estimated to be around $16 million.
