Facts About George Lindsey

He did, perhaps the worst imitation of Cary Grant in history.

Old TVPhoto byDamla ÖzkanonUnsplash

The town of Mayberry had some solid citizens residing in it. Included among that citizenry was gas station attendant, Goober Pyle. Goober was ably played by George Lindsey. Goober and his cousin, Gomer, actually appeared together on only one episode of The Andy Griffith show. It was the classic Fun Girls episode, and Goober broke out his Cary Grant impression.

In addition, George went on to be a regular on the long-running syndicated show, Hee Haw. Beyond that, I didn’t know much about George. So, after some research, here are some things you didn’t know about George Lindsey.

1: His character, Goober on the Andy Griffith Show actually changed his name in the series.

His name was changed from Goober Beasley to Goober Pyle. The idea was to cement his relationship with Gomer Pyle. Of course, the question remains as to why anybody would want to cement a family relationship with Gomer.

2: George appeared on “To Tell the Truth’ posing as Florida spear fisherman.

Ultimately, he revealed he was a night club comic. He did convince one of the panelists he was a Florida spearfisherman. And that may be one more person than he could convince he was a night club comic.

3: Both Leonard Nimoy and Erenest Borgnine said George was offered the role of Spock in Star Trek.

That’s hard to imagine. I picture Mr. Spock wearing a beanie.

4: Lindsey appeared in a number of TV shows before scoring the role of Goober Pyle.

Included in his resume are appearances on The Rifleman and Gunsmoke. On Gunsmoke, one of the characters he played was Orville Hack. Think of the Haggen clan, only meaner and more dangerous. Actually, George appeared in Gunsmoke a total of six times.

5: George played QB on his college football team.

That sounds impressive until you realize the college was Florence State Teachers College. I believe the team's name was, “The Fighting Hall Monitors.” What’s that? It seems that’s not the case.

6: In 1983 George was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame.

Maybe he was a better QB than I thought. Actually, the category he was inducted into was Youth Benefactor. George did a lot of work in behalf of Special Olympics.

7: George moved to Hollywood in the early 1960s.

I believe that’s about the same time Jed Clampett hit town.

8: He was assaulted by Aunt Bee on the set of The Andy Griffith Show.

It seems some of the cast of the show used foul language which offended Aunt Bee/Frances Bavier. Bavier proceeded to hit Lindsey repeatedly with an umbrella.

9: George didn’t particularly enjoy his time on The Andy Griffith Show.

It seems that Andy Griffith wasn’t particularly easy to get along with. You take that, along with the idea of being assaulted by Aunt Bee and you can understand why. That Taylor clan was a tough bunch.

10: As mentioned earlier, George did standup comedy for a short period of time. Here’s a sample of one of his jokes: “A football coach, holding a football, asks his quarterback, `Son, can you pass this?’ The player says, `Coach, I don’t even think I can swallow it.”’

I believe I see why his standup career was short.