The Andy Griffith Show (1960-1968) as Aunt Bee Taylor / Aunt Bee
The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) as Mrs. Barley
It's a Great Life (1954-1956) as Mrs. Amy Morgan / Amy Morgan
Benji (1974) as Lady with the Cat
Short Info
Date Of Birth
December 14, 1902
Died
December 6, 1989, Siler City, North Carolina, United States
Fact
She performed in the live action reference footage for Walt Disney's "Sleeping Beauty" (1959).
Frances Bavier was born on December 14, 1902, in New York City, New York. Her parents were Charles and Emma Bavier. She had two brothers and one sister. Bavier attended the Convent of the Sacred Heart in New York City and graduated in 1920. She then studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, where she graduated in 1922.
Bavier’s first professional role was in the play “The Rivals” in 1922. She then appeared in a number of Broadway productions. In 1950, she made her film debut in “The Magnificent Yankee.” She also appeared in the films “The Bad Seed” (1956), “A Face in the Crowd” (1957), and “No Down Payment” (1957).
From 1960 to 1972, Bavier appeared in the television series “The Andy Griffith Show” as Aunt Bee. She won an Emmy Award for her performance in 1967. After the show ended, she appeared in a few made-for-television movies.
Bavier retired from acting in 1986. She died on December 6, 1989, at the age of 86.
Frances Bavier was a successful stage and screen actress. She is best known for her role as Aunt Bee on “The Andy Griffith Show.” Bavier won an Emmy Award for her performance on the show.
General Info
Date Of Birth
December 14, 1902
Died
December 6, 1989, Siler City, North Carolina, United States
Place Of Birth
New York City, New York, United States
Profession
Actor
Education
American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Columbia University
Nationality
American
Family
Parents
Mary Birmingham Bavier, Charles S. Bavier
Accomplishments
Awards
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Movies
The Day the Earth Stood Still, Bend of the River, The Stooge, Man in the Attic, Benji, The Lady Says No, Horizons West, It Started with a Kiss, My Wife's Best Friend, Sally and Saint Anne, A Nice Little Bank That Should Be Robbed
TV Shows
Mayberry R.F.D., The Andy Griffith Show, The Eve Arden Show, It's a Great Life
[speaking in the 1970s] I had played Aunt Bee for ten years and it's very, very difficult for an actress or actor to create a role and be so identified that you as a person no longer exist and all the recognition you get is for a part that's created on screen.
Facts
#
Fact
1
In an interview, when director Ron Howard was pressed as to the stories of discord with her on the set of The Andy Griffith Show (1960) all he would say was "I just don't think she enjoyed being around children that much.".
2
After moving to North Carolina upon her retirement Frances was initially named honorary chairman of the Christmas Seal drive for the Mid-State Tuberculosis and Respiratory Disease Association and was appointed chairman of the 1973 Easter Seal Campaign for the North Central Chapter of the state Easter Seal society. As time passed, however, Bavier found herself overwhelmed by demands of her services and retreated forever.
3
Sad, when Bavier retired in 1972, she quickly became a recluse in her two-story Siler City, North Carolina home. She rarely left the house. She left most of her $700,000 estate to a hospital foundation. The home in which she lived in for 17 years was poorly upheld upon her death, nearly irreparable from the damage caused by her 14 house cats.
4
She bought her Siler City home sight unseen after falling in love with the beauty of North Carolina. "I, like a child, came here looking for a fairyland" she once said.
5
Despite her good-hearted image on screen, cast members of The Andy Griffith Show (1960) often remember her as difficult, temperamental and somewhat cold. Griffith himself said "There was just something about me she did not like.".
6
She performed in the live action reference footage for Walt Disney's "Sleeping Beauty" (1959).
7
"Nobody will move me, I am not a dining room table, I am not a sofa, I am not a rug, how dare you!" [her reaction to Howard Morris trying to rearrange the set].
8
A life-long exponent of Studebaker automobiles. The last car she bought was a 1966 model, the last model year for the make, made in the Canadian plant in Hamilton, Ontario. Some accounts say that the car was a 1964, the last year of production in the US plant in South Bend, Indiana. During the production of The Andy Griffith Show (1960) and Mayberry R.F.D. (1968) she drove herself to and from the studio in it. Reportedly, it can be seen in the latter series. Miss Bavier took it to her home in North Carolina after she retired there and is believed to have last driven it in 1983. After her death in 1989, it was found sitting on four flat tires and its interior had been ruined by cats. Even so, two Andy Griffith fans bought it for $20,000 at auction.
Pictures
Movies
Actress
Title
Year
Status
Character
Benji
1974
Lady with the Cat
Mayberry R.F.D.
1968-1970
TV Series
Aunt Bee Taylor
The Andy Griffith Show
1960-1968
TV Series
Aunt Bee Taylor
Aunt Bee
Gomer Pyle: USMC
1967-1968
TV Series
Aunt Bee
Aunt Bee Taylor
Rawhide
1960
TV Series
Ellen Ferguson
Make Room for Daddy
1960
TV Series
Henrietta Perkins
Sugarfoot
1959
TV Series
Nancy Thomas
It Started with a Kiss
1959
Mrs. Tappe
77 Sunset Strip
1959
TV Series
Grandma
Wagon Train
1959
TV Series
Sister Joseph
General Electric Theater
1957-1959
TV Series
Miss Trimingham
The Thin Man
1959
TV Series
Sara Doone
The Ann Sothern Show
1959
TV Series
Mrs. Wallace
A Nice Little Bank That Should Be Robbed
1958
Mrs. Solitaire
Colgate Theatre
1958
TV Series
Target
1958
TV Series
The Eve Arden Show
1957-1958
TV Series
Nora / Nora the Housekeeper
Perry Mason
1957
TV Series
Louise Marlow
Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside Theatre
1957
TV Series
Schlitz Playhouse
1952-1957
TV Series
Climax!
1956
TV Series
Cavalcade of America
1953-1956
TV Series
Mrs. Hayes
Ethel Barrymore Theater
1956
TV Series
The Bad Seed
1956
Woman in dinner party scene (uncredited)
Lux Video Theatre
1954-1956
TV Series
Martha
It's a Great Life
1954-1956
TV Series
Mrs. Amy Morgan / Amy Morgan
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
TV Series
Mrs. Fergusen
Dragnet
1953-1955
TV Series
Hazel Howard
Damon Runyon Theater
1955
TV Series
Abigail
Soldiers of Fortune
1955
TV Series
Amelia Lilly
The Lone Ranger
1955
TV Series
Aunt Maggie Sawtelle
Waterfront
1954-1955
TV Series
Amy Jackson / Martha Chapman
The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse
1954
TV Series
Thelma / Helen Collins
The Loretta Young Show
1953-1954
TV Series
Aunt Meg / Aunt Marty / Mrs. Logan
City Detective
1953-1954
TV Series
Louella / Olive / Mrs. Blake
Man in the Attic
1953
Helen Harley
The Revlon Mirror Theater
1953
TV Series
McCoy of Abilene
1953
TV Movie
Lou Bloor
Chevron Theatre
1953
TV Series
Sarah Cummings
The Ford Television Theatre
1953
TV Series
Horizons West
1952
Martha Hammond
My Wife's Best Friend
1952
Mrs. Chamberlain
Racket Squad
1952
TV Series
Martha Carver
Sally and Saint Anne
1952
Mrs. Kitty 'Mom' O'Moyne
Bend of the River
1952
Mrs. Prentiss
The Lady Says No
1951
Aunt Alice Hatch
The Stooge
1951
Mrs. Rogers
The Day the Earth Stood Still
1951
Mrs. Barley
O, My Darling Clementine
1943
Mrs. Asbury - talent show tryout
Girls About Town
1931
Joy - Party Girl (uncredited)
Soundtrack
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Andy Griffith Show
1963
TV Series performer - 2 episodes
Miscellaneous
Title
Year
Status
Character
Sleeping Beauty
1959
live action model: Fairy - uncredited
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Carolina Camera
1973
TV Series documentary
Herself - Actress
Archive Footage
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Sixties
2014
TV Mini-Series documentary
Aunt Bee Taylor - Andy Griffith Show
Pioneers of Television
2008
TV Mini-Series documentary
Herself / Aunt Bee
The Andy Griffith Show Reunion: Back to Mayberry
2003
TV Special documentary
Aunt Bee Taylor
Inside TV Land: The Andy Griffith Show
2000
TV Movie documentary
Herself
Andy Griffith Show Reunion
1993
TV Special
Herself
MGM Parade
1955
TV Series
Abner's Mother-In-Law
Awards
Won Awards
Year
Award
Ceremony
Nomination
Movie
1967
Primetime Emmy
Primetime Emmy Awards
Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Comedy