Can you guess how many Emmy Awards Andy Griffith has won for The Andy Griffith Show?

The correct answer is zero. Andy Griffith never won an Emmy for his nearly five decades of work on TV. Not for Matlock, his countless television movies in a variety of roles, not even one for No Time For Sergeants and the 1955 Live television production for his  signature role as Will Stockdale   However, he was nominated for a Tony for the part on Broadway.

Griffith was not a one note actor. His tour de force as the megalomaniac Lonesome Rhodes in Elia Kazan’s A Face in the Crowd displayed his wide range of skills ( he was incredibly ignored by the Academy Awards, as well).

Griffith appeared in 249 episodes on The Andy Griffith Show and 195 episodes and several movies as Matlock. He appeared in nearly 600 television shows and nary an Emmy.

Despite his legendary television status, Griffith was only ever nominated for one Emmy — in 1981 for Outstanding Supporting Actor for the special ‘Murder in Texas,’ losing to David Warner for ‘Masada.’ ‘Andy Griffith Show’ itself would be nominated for nine Emmys, winning six — nearly all of them going to his co-star, [Don Knotts]. Frances Bavier, who played Aunt Bee in the show, also won an Emmy for her work.

Robert Stack, Don Adams, William Windom, Jack Albertson, Richard Mulligan, John Ritter, Michael J. Fox, Burt Reynolds, Ray Romano and others all have won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series.

However, Griffith is one of the most remembered icons from the first fifty years of television.

Griffith only won two awards in his career. One was a Grammy for his gospel album and The Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005.

Why the snub?