Floyd Lawson

Floyd Lawson (Floyd the Barber) is a fictional character on the American sitcom The Andy Griffith Show, who was likely inspired by barbers in Andy Griffith's real-life hometown of Mount Airy, North Carolina. One barber named Russell Hiatt was known as "the real-life Floyd". Hiatt may have cut Andy Griffith's hair while Griffith was young and living in Mount Airy, and was still cutting hair daily at "Floyd's City Barber Shop" in Downtown Mount Airy until several years before his death on May 3, 2016.

Floyd the Barber was the slow-paced, somewhat absent-minded barber in the series' fictional town of Mayberry. He was first seen in episode #12, "Stranger in Town," played by actor Walter Baldwin. Baldwin established the running gag of Floyd's inability to trim sideburns evenly, which continued throughout the run of the series. Baldwin portrayed Floyd for just one episode. From 1961 on, the role was played by Howard McNear, the actor most commonly associated with the role. In McNear's first appearance as Floyd, the character's last name was "Colby"; thereafter the character was always "Floyd Lawson".

Over the first few seasons, the importance of Floyd the Barber to the series increased. Slowly, McNear changed his delivery of dialogue for Floyd from fast-paced to slower and slower as time went on. Floyd also became involved more in the plots of the various episodes as time went on.

In early 1963, midway through the third season, Howard McNear suffered a serious stroke. He was left with limited use of his arms and legs, especially his left arm, which rarely moved. The producers of the series and Andy Griffith wanted McNear to return as Floyd when his health permitted it, and after about a year, McNear was talked into coming back (which he was not going to do at first). The series had a special chair constructed that McNear was able to sit in most of the time while on the set, as the stroke had left him only able to stand for short periods of time. Accordingly, the Floyd character then began to appear regularly again on the series towards the end of season four.

The last appearance of Floyd the Barber on The Andy Griffith Show was in the final episode of the seventh season. Howard McNear's health worsened and he was not able to return to the series for season eight, and he died less than a year later. To try to fill in his loss on the series, a new character named Emmett Clark (a fix-it man) was brought in. It was announced on the series that Floyd had retired because he had earned enough money. Emmett (played by veteran character actor Paul Hartman) moved his fix-it shop into Floyd's old barber shop location in Mayberry.

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