Andy Griffith's career was a comeback from failure from his first ambition

Andy Griffeth's original ambition was musical theatre.  He earned a degree in music from U. of North Carolina.

Per NPR:

Griffith's success as a comic actor came even though his first dream in life was to be a serious singer. In college he majored in music, and as a young man, he set off for New York to audition for roles in operettas and jobs in choirs. But Griffith said the auditions failed to yield him a single offer.

"Instead of being hurt, I just started to wonder what I could do with the rest of my life. And I went home and wrote a few jokes," Griffith said. "That summer, I did my first long monologue, and a man named Orville Campbell came up to me and said, 'I have a record company. Would you like to record "What it Was Was Football"?' And I said, 'Yeah.' "

That set him on the road to becoming a television icon.  Andy Griffith passed away July 3.  R.I.P., you made us all smile, and you made this place a little bit more humane....