Since birth, he was a huge fan of
The Andy Griffith Show (1960), that starred
Andy Griffith. Several years after that show went off the air, he started making guest-appearances on
Andy Griffith's
Matlock (1986), prior to becoming an unfamiliar actor, before he would replace
Clarence Gilyard Jr. in the role, when the series moved from Los Angeles, California to Wilmington, North Carolina, for the show's seventh season.