Frances Bavier

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Frances Bavier

Born	December 14, 1902 New York City, New York, USA
Died	December 6, 1989 (aged 86) Siler City, North Carolina, USA

Frances Bavier (December 14, 1902 – December 6, 1989) was an Emmy Award winning American character actress, best remembered for her role as Aunt Bee on The Andy Griffith Show in the 1960s. She played the same role on Mayberry R.F.D.(1968-70). A convincing actress, nobody seemed to notice or care that the New York-born Bavier did not speak with a Southern accent, as some of the other characters did. Her role of Aunt Bee earned her an Emmy Award as Best Supporting Actress in 1967 making her one of only two cast members on the show to win an Emmy Award (Don Knotts is the other).

In addition to her years in Mayberry, Bavier performed on Broadway and in more than a dozen films, as well playing a range of supporting roles on television. Career highlights include the play Point of No Return, alongside Henry Fonda, and her turn as Mrs. Barley in the classic 1951 film, The Day the Earth Stood Still.

Bavier, who was born in New York City, bought a home in Siler City, North Carolina, sight unseen in 1972 and lived the rest of her life there. "I fell in love with North Carolina, all the pretty roads and the trees", she said in an interview.

Bavier had a love-hate relationship with her most famous role, Aunt Bee. As a New York actress, she felt her dramatic talents were being overlooked. At the same time, she played Aunt Bee for ten seasons, longer than any other Mayberry character. Her career illustrates the paradox facing many strongly "typed" performers. Audiences took at face value her portrayal of a warm, nurturing matron, but co-workers and others who interacted with her reportedly often found her cool and distant. Bavier and Andy Griffith did not get along well on the set. Andy Griffith had addressed the fact that the two sometimes clashed during The Andy Griffith Show run. The actress was easily slighted, and the production staff would often appease her by, "walking on eggshells". According to Griffith, Bavier phoned him four months before she died, and said she was deeply sorry for being "difficult" during the series' run. But according to The National Enquirer, there was more to the story. "Dying Aunt Bee's Last Wish" jumped off the cover of the tabloid at supermarket check-outs all over America. The story inside claimed that Bavier pleaded with Griffith to say goodbye in person, but he refused.

Her medical condition prevented her from taking part in the 1986 reunion movie Return to Mayberry. [1]

Having suffered from both heart disease and cancer, Bavier died of a heart attack in 1989 at her home in Siler City, just eight days before her 87th birthday.

Frances Bavier made her final acting appearance in the 1974 family film Benji, still wearing her trademark pearls.