YouTube Gold: Jack Nicholson On The Andy Griffith Show

Jack Nicholson in 1970Everyone has to get their start somewhere and some interesting actors either got their start or at least a major boost from the Andy Griffith Show.

Griffith, a native of Mt. Airy and a loyal graduate of UNC, created one of the finest, most nuanced shows in TV history. It was wonderfully balanced between small town humor and pathos.

The show has two basic eras: the black and white era, or Barney era, and the color era, or the post-Barney era (Barney refers to Deputy Barney Fife, brilliantly played by Don Knotts).

If you look carefully, you’ll see rising stars like Terri Garr, Bill Bixby, Barbara Eden, Howard Hesseman and, in this clip, young Jack Nicholson.

Within a few…