Frances Bavier

Frances Elizabeth Bavier (December 14, 1902 – December 6, 1989) was an American stage and television actress. Originally from New York theatre, she worked in film and television from the 1950s until the 1970s. She is best known for her role as Aunt Bee on The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry R.F.D. from 1960 to 1970. Aunt Bee logged more Mayberry years (ten) than any other character. She won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Comedy Actress for the role in 1967. Bavier was also known for playing Amy Morgan on It's a Great Life (1954–1956).

Early life and career

Bavier was born in New York City in a brownstone on Gramercy Park<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> to Charles S. Bavier, a stationary engineer, and Mary S. (née Birmingham) Bavier. She originally planned to become a teacher after attending Columbia University. She first appeared in vaudeville, later moving to the Broadway stage.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref>

After graduating from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1925, she was cast in the stage comedy The Poor Nut.<ref name="auto">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Bavier's big break came in the original Broadway production of On Borrowed Time. She later appeared with Henry Fonda in the play Point of No Return.<ref name="auto"/>

Bavier had roles in more than a dozen films, and played a range of supporting roles on television. Career highlights include her turn as Mrs. Barley in the classic 1951 film The Day the Earth Stood Still. In 1955, she played the rough and tough "Aunt Maggie" Sawtelle, a frontier Ma Barker-type character, in the Lone Ranger episode "Sawtelle's Saga End". In 1957, she played Nora Martin, mother of Eve Arden's character on The Eve Arden Show, despite the fact that Arden was less than six years younger than Bavier. That same year, Bavier guest-starred in the eighth episode of Perry Mason as Louise Marlow in "The Case of the Crimson Kiss".

She was in an episode of The Danny Thomas Show, which featured Andy Griffith as Andy Taylor and Ron Howard as Opie Taylor. She played a character named Henrietta Perkins. The episode led to The Andy Griffith Show, and Bavier was cast in the role of Aunt Bee. Bavier had a love-hate relationship with her famous role during the run of the show. As a New York City actress, she felt her dramatic talents were being overlooked, yet after playing Bee for eight seasons, she was the only original cast member to remain with the series in the spin-off, Mayberry R.F.D., for two additional seasons.<ref name="kelly">Template:Cite book</ref>

Bavier was easily offended on the set of The Andy Griffith Show and the production staff took a cautious approach when communicating with her. Series star Andy Griffith once admitted the two sometimes clashed during the series’ run.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> On an appearance on Larry King Live (November 27, 2003), Griffith said Bavier phoned him four months before she died and apologized for being "difficult" during the series’ run. Bavier confessed in an interview with Bill Ballard for Carolina Camera that "it is very difficult for an actress ... to create a role and to be so identified that you as a person no longer exist and all the recognition you get is for a part that is created on the screen."<ref>Carolina Camera: Aunt Bee Retires. Ballard, Bill. www.youtube.com</ref>

Bavier won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Comedy in 1967.

Later years

In 1972, Bavier retired from acting and bought a home in Siler City, North Carolina.<ref name="kelly"/> On choosing to live in North Carolina instead of her native New York, Bavier said, "I fell in love with North Carolina, all the pretty roads and the trees." Bavier was said to have married Russell Carpenter briefly in her early career, but there is no proof of this having actually occurred. According to a 1981 article by Chip Womick, a staff writer of The Courier Tribune, Bavier enthusiastically promoted Christmas and Easter Seal Societies from her Siler City home, and often wrote inspirational letters to fans who sought autographs.Template:Citation needed Additionally she left a $100,000 trust fund for the police force in Siler City, North Carolina whose interest is divided among the approximately 20 employees as a bonus every December.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Death

File:Gravestone on actress Francis E. Bavier image 1.jpg

Bavier's gravestone in 2017

Bavier was described "as living a sparse life in her later years, a very quiet life".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On November 22, 1989, she was admitted to Chatham Hospital, where she was kept in the coronary care unit for two weeks. She was discharged on December 4, 1989. Bavier died at 7 p.m. on December 6, 1989, two days after being released from the hospital and eight days before her 87th birthday.<ref name=":0" /> The immediate causes of death were listed as congestive heart failure, myocardial infarction, coronary artery disease, and atherosclerosis, with supporting factors being breast cancer, arthritis, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Frances Bavier death certificate, autopsyfiles.org; accessed September 28, 2016.</ref> Bavier is interred at Oakwood Cemetery in Siler City.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Her headstone includes the name of her most famous role, "Aunt Bee", and reads, "To live in the hearts of those left behind is not to die."<ref name="auto"/>

Filmography

Year	Title:	Role:	Notes
1931	Girls About Town	Joy	Uncredited
1943	O, My Darling Clementine	Mrs. Asbury
1951	The Day the Earth Stood Still	Mrs. Barley
1951	Template:Sortname	Mrs. Rogers
1952	The Lady Says No	Aunt Alice Hatch
1952	Bend of the River	Mrs. Prentiss	Alternative title: Where the River Bends
1952	Sally and Saint Anne	Mrs. Kitty "Mom" O'Moyne
1952	My Wife's Best Friend	Mrs. Chamberlain
1952	Horizons West	Martha Hammond
1953	Man in the Attic	Helen Harley
1956	Template:Sortname	Woman in dinner party scene	Uncredited
1958	A Nice Little Bank That Should Be Robbed	Mrs. Solitaire	Alternative title: How to Rob a Bank
1959	It Started with a Kiss	Mrs. Tappe
1974	Benji	Lady with cat	(final film role)

Television credits

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1952	Racket Squad	Martha Carver	1 episode
1952– 1953	Gruen Guild Playhouse	Sarah Cummings	2 episodes
1953	Hallmark Hall of Fame	Lou Bloor	1 episode
1953– 1954	City Detective	Various roles	3 episodes
1953– 1954	Letter to Loretta	Various roles	3 episodes
1953– 1955	Dragnet	Hazel Howard	3 episodes
1954	Template:Sortname	Thelma	2 episodes
1954– 1955	Waterfront	Martha Amy	2 episodes
1954– 1956	It's a Great Life	Mrs. Amy Morgan	62 episodes
1955	Template:Sortname	Aunt Maggie Sawtelle	Season 4 Episode 29: "Sawtelle Saga's End"
1955	Soldiers of Fortune	Amelia Lilly	1 episode
1955	Damon Runyon Theater		1 episode
1955	Alfred Hitchcock Presents	Mrs. Fergusen	Season 1 Episode 1: Revenge
1956	Lux Video Theatre		1 episode
1956	Cavalcade of America	Mrs. Hayes	1 episode
1957	Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside Theatre		1 episode
1957	General Electric Theater	Miss Trimingham	1 episode
1957	Perry Mason	Louise Marlow	1 episode
1957– 1958	Template:Sortname	Mrs. Nora Martin	5 episodes
1958	Colgate Theatre		Season 1 Episode 8: "If You Knew Tomorrow"
1959	Template:Sortname	Mrs. Wallace	1 episode
1959	Template:Sortname		1 episode
1959	Sugarfoot	Aunt Nancy Thomas	1 episode
1959	Wagon Train	Sister Joseph	1 episode - "The Sister Rita Story"
1959	77 Sunset Strip	Grandma Fenwick	1 episode
1960	Template:Sortname	Henrietta Perkins	1 episode
1960	Rawhide	Ellen Ferguson	1 episode
1960– 1968	Template:Sortname	Aunt Beatrice "Bee" Taylor	175 episodes Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress – Comedy Series (1967)
1967	Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.	Aunt Bee Taylor	1 episode
1968– 1970	Mayberry R.F.D.	Aunt Bee Taylor	24 episodes

External links

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• Frances Bavier Papers, 1930s-1990