Frances Bavier

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).

Frances Bavier studied at Columbia University and American Academy of Dramatic Arts. The recorded working language is English. Places of work recorded in the authority are United States. Distinctions recorded are Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.

• Name — Frances Bavier • Birth Name — Frances Elizabeth Bavier • Born — 14 December 1902 • Birthplace — New York City, New York, U.S. • Died — 6 December 1989 • Place of death — Siler City, North Carolina, U.S. • Resting Place — Oakwood Cemetery, Siler City, North Carolina, U.S. • Education — Columbia University American Academy of Dramatic Arts • Occupation — Actress • Known for — The Andy Griffith Show Mayberry R.F.D. It's a Great Life • Years Active — 1927–1974

Bavier was born in New York City in a brownstone on Gramercy Park 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. After graduating from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1925, she was cast in the stage comedy The Poor Nut. 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. During World War II Bavier toured with an entertainment group, performing for military troops in the European and South Pacific theaters for two years. Those efforts were recognized in 1955 after an ex-Marine in Chicago began collecting autographs from other former servicemen to show their appreciation for Bavier. He presented her with a scroll that contained 10,000 signatures. The scroll said, in part, "For thousands of us, you became a symbol of our own mothers." 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. 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. 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." Bavier won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Comedy in 1967.

In 1974, Bavier retired from acting and bought a home in Siler City, North Carolina. 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 that this 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. Additionally she left a $100,000 trust fund for the police force in Siler City, the interest from which is divided among the approximately 20 employees as a bonus every December.

• Illustration — Bavier's gravestone in 2017 Bavier was described "as living a sparse life in her later years, a very quiet life". 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. 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). Bavier is interred at Oakwood Cemetery in Siler City. 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."

• 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 — The — 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 — The — 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)

• 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 — The — Thelma — 2 episodes • 1954– 1955 — Waterfront — Martha Amy — 2 episodes • 1954– 1956 — It's a Great Life — Mrs. Amy Morgan — 62 episodes • 1955 — The — 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 — The — Mrs. Nora Martin — 5 episodes • 1958 — Colgate Theatre — Season 1 Episode 8: "If You Knew Tomorrow" • 1959 — The — Mrs. Wallace — 1 episode • 1959 — The Thin Man — 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 — The — Henrietta Perkins — 1 episode • 1960 — Rawhide — Ellen Ferguson — 1 episode • 1960– 1968 — The — 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

Frances Bavier is recorded as actress.