Andy Griffith, who played the wise sheriff of Mayberry, N.C., in one of American television's most beloved situation comedies, has died, according to a family friend and a real-life sheriff in North Carolina.

He was 86.

WITN-TV in Washington, N.C., says an ambulance was called to Griffith's home on Roanoke Island around 7 a.m. ET this morning. Former University of North Carolina President Bill Friday, a friend, was the first person to report the death in an interview with the station. In the past hour, local Dare County Sheriff Doug Doughtie has released a statement saying that "Griffith passed way at his home on Roanoke Island. The family will be releasing more information, but no more information is available at this time."

(Note at 1:15 p.m. ET: The sheriff's office has released a statement from the family that says, in part, "at approximately 7 a.m. [today] Andy Griffith passed away at his home, peacefully.")

The North Carolina native's career spanned more than half a century...

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