George Lindsey, ‘Andy Griffith Show’ Actor Dies
George Lindsey, or Goober Pyle as many Andy Griffith Show fans would call him, died Sunday at the age of 83 after a brief illness.
The actor formerly played country-bumpkin mechanic Goober Pyle, joining the Andy Griffith sitcom in 1964. “George often told me his fondest memories of his life in show business were the years he spent working on The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry R.F.D.” says Andy Griffith. “They were for me, too.”
“At that time, we were the best acting ensemble on TV,” Lindsey once said. “The scripts were terrific. Andy is the best script constructionist I’ve ever been involved with. And you have to lift your acting level up to his; he’s awfully good.”
George was remembered as “warm, intelligent and lovable” by his past co-star Ron Howard, who tweeted his sentiments on Twitter.
Although he acted in many TV sitcoms such as Gunsmoke, MASH, Twilight Zone, Lindsey never escaped his notriety as Goober Pyle. “There’s no place in the United States I can go that they don’t know me. They may not know me, but they know the character,” he said in 1980.
Andy Griffith released a statement on Sunday: “Our last conversation was a few days ago … I am happy to say that as we found ourselves in our eighties, we were not afraid to say, ‘I love you.’ That was the last thing George and I had to say to each other. ‘I love you.’”
The funnyman will be missed by all who knew him.
