The Tragic Death of 'Gomer Pyle's' Southern Belle TV Girlfriend Elizabeth MacRae ('Lou-Ann Poovie')

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Actress Elizabeth MacRae died on May 27, 2024, in Fayetteville, North Carolina at 88 years old. She played Jim Nabors' on-screen main squeeze in the 1960s TV sitcom, Gomer Pyle, USMC, and, in the process, became the secret crush for countless viewers.

Without her, one of TV's most popular fictional Marines would have been lost. With her portrayal of adorable Southern belle Lou-Ann Poovie on Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C., MacRae made her indelible mark in pop culture history as Lou-Ann Poovie.

A Closer Look

Elizabeth MacRae was born Elizabeth “Betsy” MacRae Halsey on February 22, 1936, in Columbia, South Carolina, to James and Dorothy MacRae.

After high school, the daughter MacRae relocated to Washington, D.C. where she attended college-preparatory school before landing in Los Angeles.

Once in Hollywood, MacRae would make nine movies for the big screen, including director Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation, and close to 24 television appearances from the 1960s through the 1980s.

Next to playing Lou-Ann Poovie, MacRae performed on TV shows such as I Dream of Jeannie and Bonanza, and daytime serials like Days of Our Lives. Her final feature film credit was Eddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives, released in 1989. She recently returned to TV on General Hospital.

However, MacRae found her non-glamorous roles off-screen to be the most rewarding. In her later years, she was an alcohol counselor with the Freedom Institute in New York City.

Leaving Hollywood

In 2001, Elizabeth MacRae returned to live in Fayetteville with her husband, Charles Day Halsey, who had passed away just a few months before her, on March 29, 2024. They were married for 55 years, and now they are together again.