"The upholstered furniture was the worst. "All of her furnishings took abuse from the cats," sighed auctioneer David Lindquist. It all came together in a successful, sentimental event that cast the old spotlight back on Aunt Bee _ and shed new light on the woman who brought her to life in households across America.
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Remember how Aunt Bee always dished up apple pie when there was a problem with Sheriff Andy (played by Andy Griffith of Matlock fame now) or his boy Opie (Ron Howard, a big-time movie producer of such films as Cocoon)? In the end, Bavier, in a life-imitating-art act of kindness, willed her household possessions to help the money crunch of North Carolina's 10 PBS stations, which produced shows that she watched avidly late in her life. Of course, some in town saw her back-offishness as snobbery."īut the story has a happy ending, just as the sitcom always did: With the fund-raising auction as her final wish, Bavier proved to have an Aunt Bee heart as big as a harvest moon. She just wasn't used to our dropping in to sit a spell or saying hi ya doin' on the street, so she withdrew. "She moved from Manhattan to Los Angeles to Siler City," explained her attorney Sam Williams, "so yes, she did suffer cultural shock. And because of the menagerie of felines, Bavier wasn't the best of housekeepers _ unlike her aproned Aunt Bee character, as her estate settlers found out after her death. She seldom socialized, never threw a party at the 22-room house where she lived with 15 cats or invited the local ladies in for sweetened iced tea on a muggy summer afternoon. She also shopped at night to avoid bumping into her neighbors. When she moved to North Carolina 17 years ago from Los Angeles, Bavier wore dainty white gloves and frilly hats to Byrd's grocery store in downtown Siler City, according to In fact, many folks around here regarded the actress _ a big-city transplant to the North Carolina foothills _ as a recluse who didn't mingle with them. That's because Bavier was quite different in style than Aunt Bee. Before she died in December at age 86, Bavier provided that her worldly goods would go on the auction block to help the PBS cause.Īs it turns out, the charitable provision proved to be a most unexpected gesture of generosity. Explained Durham auctioneer Chris Allen: "They're buying and paying dearly because it belonged to Frances."įrances, for the non-Mayberryphile, is the late Frances Elizabeth Bavier, the 5-feet-1 actress with the gray-haired bun and rosy cheeks who played the loving fussbudget Aunt Bee on the popular show, which aired on CBS from 1960-68 and has been in heavy syndication ever since. Webb was typical of the hundreds of big buck-paying Mayberry fans at this sale and auction, which grossed more than $120,000 to benefit PBS stations in North Carolina. ″She was never big on doing interviews but in my converstions with her she was always open and willing to talk about her days on the Andy Griffith Show,″ Meroney said.Why was Webb beside himself over Bee memorabilia? "Watching The Andy Griffith Show just makes you feel good," he said. She retired to Siler City in 1972 but made a cameo appearance in the 1974 movie ″Benji″.Ī private person, she had refused media requests for interviews for some time. She made friends in Siler City and began visiting them. It was while doing ″The Andy Griffith Show″ that Bavier came to North Carolina in 1963 to participate in the famous rice diet at Duke University Medical Center. Officials would not say whether any of the cast members visited. ″She was the only one from a large city and the fact that she could portray Aunt Bee showed the depth of her talent.″ĭuring her stay in Chatham Hospital, Miss Bavier received many cards, letters and flowers from well-wishing fans.Īt one point, she invited the show’s other cast members - Griffith, Don Knotts and Ron Howard - to visit her in the hospital.
″When she started on the show she was 57 and had more experience going in than any of the other cast members,″ he said. ″Many episodes focused on her and she was essential to the success of the show,″ said John Meroney, founder of the Andy Griffith Show Appreciation Society. ″Andy Griffith″ was near the top of the ratings from Oct.
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She became famous for her television role in the popular show starring Andy Griffith as a Southern sheriff, which she continued in the short-lived series ″Mayberry RFD.″ She won an Emmy for the role in 1967. She had more than 20 years of stage experience, including stints in vaudeville and on Broadway, where she appeared in such productions as ″Kiss and Tell,″ ″Point of No Return″ and ″The Lady Says No.″ A native of New York City, she attended Columbia University and was a graduate of the American Academy of the Arts.
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