Yeah, Griffith’s leftism always struck me as odd..especially when one considers his southern rural roots.
Actually, I think that knowing his true political orientation actually enhances the enjoyment of his rôle as the amoral drifter Lonesome Rhodes in "A Face in the Crowd."
Regards,
The inside of his head probably looks a lot like Jimmy Carter’s.
Well, remember that Griffith’s initial fame was as a nightclub performer who’d put on his “ignorant southern rural yokel” schtick for ritzy NYC supper-club audiences. Always seemed to be a tinge of contempt towards small-town/Southern culture and values in his early humor, unlike a lot of previous rural-style comedians like Judy Canova and Bob Burns and such.
Thus, the irony that Griffith wound up headlining a show (and a brilliant classic it is) that became such an iconic fixture for solid, mid-american conservative values. A pretty miserable cuss in real-life as well. Of the two or three dozen folks I’ve talked to who have worked with Griffith or met him, I don’t think I’ve ever heard a nice word uttered about him!
He's a self-hating Southerner. He'll embrace his Southern roots whenever it's advantageous, but there's always a hint of embarrassment. This goes all the way back to his stand-up comedy. He would exaggerate his accent, play himself as a hick to get a laugh, the same way someone will make a joke at their own expense--so people will laugh with him instead of at him.
Howard Morris (who played Ernest T. Bass and directed several episodes of TAGS) said that when they were on the set and heard of JFK being shot in Dallas, Griffith's first reaction was "The damn Southerners!"
Even Morris, a yankee from NY (I think), was taken aback by that.