CHICAGO – Andy Griffith, best known for his role as Sheriff Andy Taylor on the CBS comedy "The Andy Griffith Show," died Friday morning at the age of 86, according to published reports. Griffith established himself during the 1950s as a humorist on variety programs such as "The Ed Sullivan Show," doing a monologue called "What It Was, Was Football" in which a hayseed describes seeing a football game for the first time. He then shocked viewers in his 1957 film debut,"A Face In the Crowd," playing an obnoxious television host who manipulates and bullies everyone around him. Griffith moved back into the comedic realm on Broadway, starring as a hillbilly who has misadventures in the U.S. Army in "No Time For Sergeants." In 1960, he began his long run as Andy Taylor. When "The Andy Griffith Show" left the air in 1968, Griffith starred in a few unsuccessful TV series and did a number of TV movies before finding his next iconic role on the NBC mystery "Matlock."