Kene Holiday was terminated after the third season, due to his ongoing battle with drugs and alcohol.
Linda Purl left the show near the end of the first season after disputes about her character and castmates.
Nancy Stafford chose to leave the series after season six. She had just gotten married, filming was moving to North Carolina, and she did not wish to relocate.
In 1997, two years after the end of the series, Andy Griffith reprised the role of Matlock on a two-part episode of Diagnosis Murder (1993). This would mark his final appearance in the role, and the only time the Matlock character was seen on CBS. In the episode, it is explained that Dr. Mark Sloan (Dick Van Dyke) advised Ben in 1969 to invest his life savings, $5,000, in the 8-track tape industry. When Ben lost all of his money, he began buying cheap suits off the rack and eating hot dogs because they were all he could afford. By the time he had money again, it was a habit.
During the third season, Kene Holiday missed a total of seven episodes, because he was not only arrested for drunk driving, he was also in rehab for drug and alcohol abuse. By the time he was three months sober, he had been terminated from the show.
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