Before They Were Stars: Jack Nicholson on “The Andy Griffith Show”

Call this one a “Six Degrees of Roger Corman” clip. It’s well-documented that Jack Nicholson got his start appearing in a ton of low-budget Roger Corman films before he found stardom. And one of the many filmmakers that Roger Corman helped groom was Ron Howard, who made the successful transition from child actor to director after Corman gave him the job directing the car chase film, Grand Theft Auto. Well, here are the two Corman proteges crossing paths as Nicholson makes a guest appearance on an episode of The Andy Griffith Show. I’m sure I’m not the only one expecting Nicholson to shout out “You can’t handle the truth!” in this scene.