RIP Dennis Rush

 

Parade

By Andrea Reiher

May 14, 2026

 

Child Star Mourns Death of Fellow ‘Andy Griffith Show’ Actor and Close Friend

Former child actor Keith Thibodeaux is mourning the loss of fellow ‘The Andy Griffith Show’ actor Dennis Rush after decades of friendship and appearances together at Mayberry fan events.

Former child star Keith Thibodeaux is mourning the loss of fellow actor Dennis Rush, his longtime friend and former co-star from The Andy Griffith Show.

Thibodeaux, who famously played Little Ricky on I Love Lucy under the stage name Richard Keith, shared the news in an emotional Facebook post alongside a photo of the two actors together at a fan event.

“I just got word that my old buddy Dennis Rush, a fine actor and a great friend passed away,” Thibodeaux wrote. “What a shock.”

He continued by remembering Rush’s connection to The Andy Griffith Show, where the two appeared together as part of Opie Taylor’s (Ron Howard) circle of childhood friends.

“He was with us as one of Opie’s buddies,” Thibodeaux wrote. “He’s the one sitting down. I will miss him at the Andy Griffith festivals as we had so many stories to tell.”

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In a 2022 interview with WRAL, Rush said working on The Andy Griffith Show was “the best.”

“I got to be in eight episodes over about a two-and-a-half-year period. It was just the best of the best,” said Rush in the interview. He also said that he got his start playing James Cagney’s son in the movie Man of a Thousand Faces and that he and the Oscar-winning actor exchanged Christmas cards every year until Cagney died in 1986.

Thibodeaux also revealed that he had recently prayed with Rush after learning of his leukemia diagnosis.

“I’m just glad that I was able to pray with him last month at one of the festivals when he found out that he was diagnosed with leukemia,” he added. “Mayberry has lost a great citizen and a great friend!”

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Fans and former colleagues quickly filled the comments section with condolences. Lucie Arnaz Luckinbill, daughter of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, wrote, “Sorry, Keith. Those decades long friendships are the best. He will save a nice place for you where he’s going, I’m sure.”

Another fan commented, “My condolences for the loss of a longtime friend. It seems there is much loss of our generation these days.”

Rush appeared in eight episodes of The Andy Griffith Show as Howie Pruitt, one of Opie Taylor’s close friends. Thibodeaux played Johnny Paul Jason, another recurring member of Opie’s group.

According to his IMDb biography, Rush was born in California in 1951 and appeared in a number of classic television series during the 1950s and 1960s, including Wagon Train, Laramie, Gunsmoke, Perry Mason, The Lucy Show and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. His final listed acting credit came in 1966, but it sounds like he routinely attended Andy Griffith Show fan events.

RUSH, Dennis (Dennis E. Rush)

Born: 6/10/1951, California, U.S.A.

Died: 5/14/2026, San Diego, California, U.S.A.

 

Dennis Rush’s westerns – actor:

No Name on the Bullet – 1959 (Billy Chaffee)

The Deputy (TV) – 1959 (Timmy Jackson)

Wagon Train (TV) – 1960-1962 (Davey Adams, David Ivers)

Frontier Circus (TV) – 1962 (boy)

Gunsmoke (TV) – 1962 (kid)

Laramie (TV) – 1962-1963 (boy, Teddy)