NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. (FOX 56) — David Damron is one of the regular cast members at Nicholasville’s KCAL Old-Time Radio Theater. Five times a year, the troupe recreates radio comedies and dramas from the 1940s. But it’s a television show from the 1960s that has David’s loyalty.
He collects anything he can get his hands on connected to “The Andy Griffith Show”—books, scripts, and records. “One thing I really like about the show is that you get a lot of life lessons out of it,” he said.
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In 2022, Damron learned that a series called “Mayberry Man” was in the works, a spinoff of a movie by the same name, inspired by “The Andy Griffith Show.” It was being crowd-funded, and donors at a certain level could land an appearance in the show.
“I’m a banker by trade, and I’ve always wanted to be an actor,” said Damron, the chief financial officer at Farmers Bank in downtown Nicholasville. “But I can’t go to L.A. or New York to the hubs and try to make a go of it So, I thought this was an opportunity for me to live the best of both worlds.”
To get a chance to act, even briefly, in a project tied to his favorite show was a dream come true. When Damron sent in his audition video, he read the lines for every part in the scene, not just the role he was being considered for, using different props and accents.
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In a podcast promoting the series, producer Cort Howell singled out Damron’s audition as one of the best. “That was impressive,” he said.
In November 2022, Damron flew to California and spent two hours shooting and reshooting a scene that runs less than two minutes, but he’s front and center in that scene as an angry citizen.
Word travels around Nicholasville just as quickly as it did in the fictional town of Mayberry, and David says he’s taking a lot of kidding about his upcoming 102 seconds in the spotlight.
“When I go into a couple of eating establishments here in town, they say, ‘Here comes Hollywood,’” he laughed. There’s no need, as Barney Fife would say, to ‘nip it in the bud.” Damron just enjoys talking about the show every chance he gets.
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Fame may be fleeting, but this taste of it was worth the time, money, and effort for David.
“Absolutely. Had it had been another show, I don’t think I would’ve taken as much pride in it.”
Now his collection is more personal. His name is on the call sheets, and his picture is on souvenir playing cards. He may not be the star of the show, but he’s a “Mayberry Man” through and through.
The five-episode series is set to be released on streaming services in May 2024. Damron appears in the third episode.
