'The Andy Griffith Show' Feud Between George 'Goober' Lindsay & Frances 'Aunt Bee' Bavier

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The Andy Griffith Show originally aired on CBS from 1960 to 1968 and was followed by Mayberry, R.F.D., the sequel sitcom that ran from 1968 to 1971.

Character actor George Lindsay as Goober Pyle, and Frances Bavier as Aunt Bee, appeared on both the Griffith Show and Mayberry R.F.D.

Each series featured affable characters like Goober and Aunt Bee, among others, who got along swimmingly in the fabricated small town of Mayberry, North Carolina.

However, the behind-the-scenes interactions between the actors who portrayed the characters did not always run smoothly.

A Closer Look

In George Lindsey’s book, Goober in a Nutshell, the actor discussed “cursing and cutting up” during sequences he filmed with Bavier at a race track. The veteran actress became upset with Lindsey and hit his head with an umbrella. According to Lindsey, her actions also offended Ken Berry, Mayberry R.F.D.'s leading man who played Sam Jones.

According to Lindsay's memoir, Berry became "irate" that Bavier bashed Lindsey over the head. "And he was right," Lindsey noted, "...she shouldn’t have done that. I had always liked Frances, but I never forgave her for clobbering me.”

In the Big Picture Scheme of Things

Frances Bavier retired from acting in 1975 and died in 1989, at age 86. George Lindsey died in 2012 at 83.

Although these two stars of The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry R.F.D. did not always get along, the family-friendly essence of both shows remains with each subsequent viewing, even all these decades later.