In November of 1961, 53-year-old Buddy Ebsen guest starred on The Andy Griffith Show as an independent-minded old coot who runs afoul of the law. In November of 1981, 73-year-old Ebsen starred in the TV movie Fire On The Mountain as…an independent-minded old(er) coot who runs afoul of the law. In both cases, Ebsen’s character takes Ron Howard’s character under his wing: first when “Ronnie” played an impressionable seven-year-old and later, when Howard portrayed a cynical 27-year-old.