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UNITED STATES -- The nation is mourning the loss of its favorite small town sheriff. Andy Griffith has died.

Griffith starred in movies and had a hit TV show called "Matlock" in the 1980s. But he will be best remembered for his 1960s series, "The Andy Griffith Show," in which he played Andy Taylor, sheriff of the mythical town of Mayberry.

Robert Thompson, professor of television and popular culture at Syracuse University, says while many shows of the golden era of TV have been called the greatest, Griffith's program truly was.

"In the end, I would have to put ‘The Andy Griffith Show’ right at the very top. That show so exquisitely gave a sense of Utopian space. You knew where that diner was. You knew where that picture show was. And of course, no real town existed like that. It was like Eden, before the apple was bitten into," said Thompson.

Andy Griffith had been in declining health for several years. He was 86.