"Throughout his career, he represented everything that was good about North Carolina: a small town boy and UNC graduate who took a light-hearted approach to some of the attributes he grew up with and turned them into a spectacularly successful career, " she said.

CNN: Actor Andy Griffith dead at 86

Mr Blunt likes to portray himself as an aw-shucks small-town boy, but he too grew up in the world of politics.

ECONOMIST: And who will cut the victory?

Di Stefano, who was born in the small Italian town of Petrella Tifernina, moved to Britain as a boy and attended school in Wollaston, in Northamptonshire.

BBC: High profile lawyer Giovanni Di Stefano

This time it's the boy who's the mortal: moody, bookish Ethan, the outsider in his sleepy small town of Gatlin, S.C.

CNN: Review: 'Beautiful Creatures' lacks danger and momentum