RIP Andy Griffith age 86 Ben Metlock/Andy Taylor

[The Voice of Reason]

It's rather interesting that when a celebrity is living in a small town, they often contribute little to it. Most people I know who were here in the '70s and '80s remember Frances Bavier as a recluse who did little for the community; people in Shelbyville, KY, say that Col. Sanders didn't do much for the town (but then again, he was on the road a lot).

Same goes for Jackie Gleason.
Someone wanted to name a park after Gleason shortly after his death. One local politician was quoted as saying: "Why name something after him since he never did a thing for this community when he was alive".

 

[landtuna]

It's rather interesting that when a celebrity is living in a small town, they often contribute little to it. Most people I know who were here in the '70s and '80s remember Frances Bavier as a recluse who did little for the community; people in Shelbyville, KY, say that Col. Sanders didn't do much for the town (but then again, he was on the road a lot).

Same goes for Jackie Gleason.
Someone wanted to name a park after Gleason shortly after his death. One local politician was quoted as saying: "Why name something after him since he never did a thing for this community when he was alive".

I'm not sure I understand why we would expect retired "stars" to "do something for the community". It is great when they lend their time, money and personal appearances to public causes but we tend to forget role-playing stars are not the same people as their broadcast images. Instead, they are people just as the rest of us with responsibilities, preferences and individual characteristics.

"Andy Taylor" publicized N.C. and "Andy Griffith" actually lived there. Great. N.C. benefited from tourism and his popularity.

Sandra Bullock left Hollywood to raise her family in New Orleans and lives a quiet life there. Because she is a popular movie star we should expect her to drum up business for N.O.? And does she expect a major thoroughfare to be named after her because she adopted a needy child?

We have perhaps a dozen or more nationally known sports and movie/TV people living in the Phoenix area but the only one who gets any publicity of note is Alice Cooper (mainly due to his charity work and golf tournaments). I'm sure some of the others also have their pet projects but we seldom hear about those. Are not these people entitled to enjoy their retirement as the rest of us would wish?

 

[landtuna]

Any ways the point I am trying to make is that its ironic that Bavier, who was basically an unknown actress at the time, went on to achieve fame because of this series yet here we read how she didn't get along with cast members and complained about the show's scripts yet she not only stayed with the Andy Griffith Show for most of its run but also was on Mayberry RFD until Fred Silverman (then at CBS) cancelled the program.

Bavier's attitude reminds me of the old adage about biting the hand that feeds you.

Here is a situation where a number of actors came and went from that show, yet Ms. Bavier sticks around for its entire run, yet it appears all she did was complain. Maybe instead of Elinor Donahue leaving after the first season it should have been Ms. Bavier who should have been asked to leave if she didn't enjoy working with the cast and crew.

Frances Bavier was not an "unknown actress" prior to TAGS. Her first performance was on the NY stage in 1931 and she had a noteworthy stage career before moving to TV and the movies in the 50's.

According to sources her long-running disagreement with TAGS was not the other actors (although there were clashes from time to time) but rather with the writers and the scripts. It is perhaps her expectation that TV scripts would be the professional equivalent of NY stage that disappointed her - particularly the "countryfied yokel" variety. Why she took the role of Aunt Bee knowing the characters she would be associated with is anyone's guess....it was probably the only steady job she could get at her age.

Contrary to popular opinion though she was an ardent supporter of several charities (Christmas and Easter Seal Societies are noteworthy) and welcomed fans at her home until the numbers overwhelmed her and she became a recluse. Wasn't Johnny Carson much the same way?

 

[LKellerIII]

I think people are bothered by Bavier because she was an actress, and because of that - publicly known, which seems inconsistent with somebody who is a recluse by nature. But the fact is, all kinds of people become actors, and though it's hard to believe, some of them are reclusive or shy. We've all heard that Johnny Carson was shy and introverted, and first tried to deal with it by performing magic tricks, and that led him to a show business career.

I don't know about Bavier's early career, but I know there are actors that are "discovered" somehow, or just get lucky - and their careers rise fast. Making that kind of money would be hard to turn down, even if you don't like acting. Some retire after they make their fortune and never act again, while some act until their dying days.

I noticed that Gene Hackman totally disappeared about 8 or 10 years ago, though I think he still does voice over work for Lowe's.

 

[onairb]

Hackman announced his retirement a few years back.

 

[Mark Giardina]

Frances Bavier was not an "unknown actress" prior to TAGS. Her first performance was on the NY stage in 1931 and she had a noteworthy stage career before moving to TV and the movies in the 50's.

Wikipedia is a nice source of information but let's be honest here; Frances Bavier was not well known to most of the general public until she got a co-starring role on Andy Griffith's show despite her many years in show business.

One example is her minor role in the movie "The Day the Earth Stood Still". Her appearance was only recognized years after the movie was released (in 1951) by most people after she gain notoriety as "Aunt Bee"

 

[bpatrick]

Frances Bavier did appear in the 1954-56 NBC sitcom "It's A Great Life."
She played the owner of a California rooming house where the show's
two main characters, two former Army buddies now looking for civilian
jobs, lived. Although I've known it to turn up on smaller indies (WHKY
Hickory, NC, used to run it in the late '60s/early '70s), the show is largely
forgotten and thus it's not likely many people know she played in another
series before she played Aunt Bee.

 

[landtuna]

Frances Bavier was not an "unknown actress" prior to TAGS. Her first performance was on the NY stage in 1931 and she had a noteworthy stage career before moving to TV and the movies in the 50's.

Wikipedia is a nice source of information but let's be honest here; Frances Bavier was not well known to most of the general public until she got a co-starring role on Andy Griffith's show despite her many years in show business.

One example is her minor role in the movie "The Day the Earth Stood Still". Her appearance was only recognized years after the movie was released (in 1951) by most people after she gain notoriety as "Aunt Bee"

You didn't differentiate between "mass market" (TV/movies) and other acting venues (primarily stage). Your statement indicated she was an "unknown" until TAGS came along but that was/is incorrect. She indeed was more well known following TAGS than she had been before but the fact remains she was a professional actress prior to TAGS.

 

[KyDXIn]

The cable access TV station in my town had been running a 24 hour Danny Thomas marathon and one of the shows featured Andy Griffith, which eventually lead to the start of Andy's program.

Any ways the point I am trying to make is that its ironic that Bavier, who was basically an unknown actress at the time, went on to achieve fame because of this series yet here we read how she didn't get along with cast members and complained about the show's scripts yet she not only stayed with the Andy Griffith Show for most of its run but also was on Mayberry RFD until Fred Silverman (then at CBS) cancelled the program.

Bavier's attitude reminds me of the old adage about biting the hand that feeds you.

Here is a situation where a number of actors came and went from that show, yet Ms. Bavier sticks around for its entire run, yet it appears all she did was complain. Maybe instead of Elinor Donahue leaving after the first season it should have been Ms. Bavier who should have been asked to leave if she didn't enjoy working with the cast and crew.

Frances had a long history of acting, and if I remember correctly, came from Broadway to television. If you want to find out more about "Aunt Bee" watch this clip, or what I would call "Everything you want to know about Aunt Bee, but were afraid to ask."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFC60b-QQa0

 

[johnbasalla]

For the record, "Aunt Bea" was on the first two seasons of "Mayberry R.F.D.", then Alice Ghostley took over. Is that when Francis retired?

 

[jwk1979]

Francis Bavier (Aunt Bee) and Andy reportedly did not get along at all and there is a well known incident where AG and Ron Howard actually went to visit Francis in 1972 and she refused to see them.

I've told this story before, but Ron Howard came to Siler City to visit Ms. Bavier, stopped a friend of mine to ask directions to Ms. Bavier's house, then (as I understand it, I wasn't living here then) got turned away at the front door. I also find it noteworthy that Andy was filming "Matlock" in Wilmington, about 150 miles away, yet did not come to Ms. Bavier's funeral.

I've often heard that about both Ron Howard and Andy Griffith attempting to visit Francis Bavier and she refused to see either of them, but I'm fairly sure it was much later than 1972. Ron Howard would have been in his late teens in 1972. I always heard it was after he left Happy Days in the early 80s and became a director that he tried to visit her and was turned away at the door.

As far as Andy Griffith not attending her funeral, Ms. Bavier died in 1989 and "Matlock" was still being filmed in California at the time. "Matlock" didn't start filming in Wilington, NC until 1992 or 93, when the show switch networks from NBC to ABC.

 

[jwk1979]

Francis Bavier (Aunt Bee) and Andy reportedly did not get along at all and there is a well known incident where AG and Ron Howard actually went to visit Francis in 1972 and she refused to see them.
I don't know whether the fault lies with Andy or Francis but Andy was known in the industry as a rather prickly person in private life and in business dealings.

Somewhere I read that Andy Griffith wasn't really acting when he played the part of "Lonesome Rhodes". That the character was very close to Griffith's true personality.

I've often heard that, too. George Lindsey had lived in Nashville since the days he was a "Hee-Haw" cast member and would make an occasional appearance on some of the local talk shows and would tell stories about how unpleasant Andy Griffith could be at time.

 

[jfrancispastirchak]

In a much heralded TV interview (circa 2000?), Griffith disclosed a reconciliation of sorts he had with Ms Bavier shortly before her death. This was the same interview in which Griffith gave details of an illness that nearly killed him a few years earlier. Most fans had never known he was sick, and those who did were largely unaware of the seriousness of his disease.

I remember how this TV event touched me, yet I can't recall what show it was, or the name of the interviewer. Anyone care to research this?