My father owned a paint store in Reseda CA , George would shop at our store. My father actually installed shades at his home in Woodland Hills and I got to tag along. George was very warm a friendly to me and my father. I will never forget him.
I grew up in Jasper, Al. Everyone knew where his mom lived. I grew up watching him on the Andy Griffith Show but I never saw him around Jasper when he came home but I've seen his kids there when visiting their grandmother, George's mom. My mom being a Lindsey also, I'm related to George. He was my parents age. My cousins went to see him at the grand ole opry and he let them in through the back stage door. They tell me he was a really cool guy.
George came into one of my businesses in Huntsville Alabama, he was funny and gracious and gave autographs to all that asked.....a true gentleman......
In an interview with George Lindsay, it turned out I was the only interviewer who had seen the actor in possibly his best dramatic role. The episode of an Alfred Hitchcock Hour was The Jar. I asked him about it and he quickly dropped "Goober" and talked about how the role affected him as an actor. A year later while having lunch in the Paramount commissary, George spotted me across the room, stood up, and shouted, "Hey, give that southern boy some fried green tomatoes!"
Wow, "The Jar" was the episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour I most remember watching as a kid, but I never realized the Lindsay was in it. Been hoping to catch that episode on the reruns showing every week now.
I raised about a hour west of Jasper, Alabama and there are many stories about him. I am also a graduate of the University of North Alabama and a Communications Arts graduate. Prior to the pandemic, the Communications Department held an annual George Lindsey Festival. I met him at the inaugural one. He would invite another celebrity to be there each year, including Earnest Borgine.
When I was a child, and later as an adult, (I was a photographer) I met George so many times. The University of North Alabama, (Florence State then,) had a George Lindsey day, and Florence Country Club had a George Lindsey golf tournament, he would call me by name, and hand me an autograph for my daughters, before I could finish asking. We're talking about a great human being that radiated honesty, sincerity, and humanity. That Country Club was the only place to get alcohol in our dry County, but I never saw him drinking or "under the influence".
There is still a George Lindsey Film Festival at the University of North Alabama, where he attended college. If memory serves, it used to be called the Gooberfest.
@@mac11380 I did a lot of things in Vietnam that many would consider foolish and dangerous. I didn't want to do anything that would insult the Screaming Eagles that came before me.
There were a lot of class acts back then and they seemed to be found together on the same shows as I am amazed as I start looking up actors from The Andy Griffin Show/Bonanza/Gun Smoke/Gilligans Island/Bewitched etc. It seemed easy for many of these characters to be “like” family. Like Barney’s former steady girlfriend got married while he went to work in the big city, even the actress was against that! To Otis “The Town Drunk” also being Winnie the Pooh & Owl back in the 1980’s! So many surprises and talent.
I met him several times. He was a customer at my business. He never put on airs. He conducted himself as an every day guy. For awhile I left him be. I was not sure. One day somebody recognized him. He was shy about it. When he paid out, I addressed him as Mr. Linsey. He said you knew? I answered that I thought he preferred to be normal. He thought that was funny. I never let on to my employees who he was. When asked, I always said, no, doesn't even look like him. He was very kind and gracious.
Lindsey had a well-used standup line which I still love to this day regarding what he wanted on his tombstone epitaph. He answered, "I told ya'll I was sick".
George's performance on the Andy Griffith show as Groober was tremendous. He took over when Don Knotts left the show. He was a gentleman and very warm man from reading the comments here.
He projected such a positive power in his acting comedy. I can imagine what a great quarterback he would be encouraging his teammates to do the best they could
Goober was a hoot on Hee Haw. He was a great actor and even a greater humanitarian due to his support for charities. May George Lindsey rest peacefully in God's Kingdom.
Thank you. I grew up watching Goober on Andy Griffith. I loved that his last name was Beasley. The kids made fun of my last name, Beasley, at school. This made me feel better.
I met Goober when I was a kid, he made a personal appearance at the Grand opening of one of his steakhouses in the D/FW metroplex. I still have my autographed picture of him from that day. Love your videos, keep up the great work!!
When I was a kid my aunt had surgery in Huntsville AL. The man in the hospital room next to her was George Lindsey. I don't remember what the surgery he had was, (I was around 13, so this was maybe 79?), but I was under the impression it was something serious. He was very kind when we met him in the hall being wheeled around and he gave us his big smile.
@dibutler...Wow! I wish l had known George Lindsay was in the Huntsville (Alabama) Hospital in '79. I was a student at Oakwoid College (now Oakwood University) at that time.
When I think of George I also remember Frank Sutton who played the sarge on Gomer Pyle. Both were outstanding actors who fell into TV sit coms and such, I think both of them could have easily been top character actors of stage and screen.
Nice job putting this together. I struck up a friendship with George back in the early to mid 1970s when I was working at WLAC-TV in Nashville while we were in production of Hee Haw. When I worked the late shift George would sometimes come in with a reel of video tape which was a fresh film transfer of the 16mm film they shot a few days before out on some farm while they were clowning around in the hayloft and running in and out of the barn with ropes and ladders (just funny slapstick stuff all speeded up). I would put the reel onto the big video playback machine and we would watch while he laughed and slapped his knee and jabbed me with his elbow. I would ask him questions about working on the Andy Griffith show and he had a lot of good things to say about most of the actors except Frances Bavier (Aunt Bea). Seems she was not a team player and a little off by herself most of the time.
I always liked George Lindsey but I never knew just how accomplished he really was. He is best known as the funny guy that isn't quite the smartest person but in real life he did it all. He played college football with a scholarship, served in the military, was accepted by the William Morris agency and was obviously a quite capable actor, had a family, sang, did a ton of work for charities, was the runner-up for the role of Spock and the list goes on and on and on. Thanks for a really entertaining and informative production. Well done.
I visited George's gravesite with family 2 years ago. I also run into several people who knew him personally from childhood throughout his life... I met two of his cousins....they favored quite a bit.....I was surprised at what some had to say about his mother....but several ladies not connected said the same thing.....no man would comment....as they said that was unbecoming of gentleman.... I lived in Alabama for 15 years and traveled throughout as well as the deep south.... It's funny how small the world is..... God bless Mr. Gobber ... George Linsey and the whole cast of mayberry and you sir for sharing
I worked with 'Goober' in 1982 as a 23 year old audio engineer at Irving Productions, Inc. in Tulsa, Ok. George played a cartoon character named 'Duffy'. He was a dragon with a sore throat.... and every time he'd cough, he'd shoot fire and smoke out of his mouth and ''scare everybody to death!'' It was about a 13 minute original animation cartoon directed toward children who were going to have surgery or their tonsils out. The cartoon, in which I played the 'ailments', was produced by Lock Wolverton who later worked for Disney in Florida. My job, besides being the voice for the 2 Ailments - was to record George, produce, mix and edit the audio/sfx/music track. He was just as funny (but professional) as he was on the Andy Griffith Show. Great memory!
The Fun Girls Episode with he and Gomer together was one of the best.It was here that Goober unveiled his wonderful Cary Grant imitation "Judy,Judy,Judy,Judy" (or take off,as Goober called it). He follows it up with a riotous Edward G Robinson, showing his physical comedy skills as well as his perfect comedic timing...
Even though George Lindsey didn't get to be Mr. Spock things still worked out better because "Star Trek" only lasted 3 seasons while "Hee Haw" went on for 20 years.
I knew George Floyd from roughly 1986 to 1992. I worked the counter at a Post Office near Opryland, Opryland Hotel and the Grand Ole Opry. He was there frequently to mail items he signed for fans. He had a type A++ personality. He was always jovial and treated all the other customers and employees with a funny joke. He called them “knee slappers”. Even if they truly weren’t funny, he would laugh so hard and loudly that everyone in earshot busted out laughing too. Of the many celebrities I met and came to know in that job, he is definitely one I will never forget.
George's daughter, Cammy ("Cami"?), went to the same college as me... but ended up going back to Tennessee. We went to Point Loma College in San Diego (right ON the beach). I did not know her.
Thank you so much for sharing you said you from Granite City I'm from Springfield Illinois Joshua Tree California I too am a performer but also I'm a combat veteran retired marine and Soldier waiting for for my opening or my big break to come back into performing and to acting emits this covid crisis waiting for the lord to bless me in that area!!! thank you for sharing it is one of my favorite all-time TV shows I watch it every morning and every afternoon I was born June 15th 1960 so I grew up on it!!!
I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Lindsey when I was young and the Asst. Manager of Q-Lube in Bellevue, TN and I asked him as he was leaving if he would give us the pleasure and without skipping a beat he said "Judy, Judy, Judy" followed by his clicking sound.
Took a flight from LAX to ATL in the early 80's, George was one of the first class passengers, and before take off, he headed into the 'cheap seats' to give autographs. I didn't get his autograph, but the guy sitting next to me mentioned George was always a publicity hound. The guy next to me was William Windom, travelling in coach, incognito. William and I played chess during the flight. He won a couple of games.
William Windom came to my high school in early 70s in Akron, Ohio. He was in town doing James Thurber in a local one man show. He was very funny, gracious, and did a fine presentation. Wish I'd gone to his show that week. George Lindsey had a great love for people and making them laugh. Celebs today usually avoid the public, it's dangerous and most don't want to meet their fans.
@@michaelsix9684 Windom and I talked about his TV adaptation (short lived, one season) of his portrayal of Thurber. Actually more than his Star Trek role. . .
Good job again. I appreciate how thorough you are, yet conversational and presenting from a personal interest point of view. You even leave in the laughs and admit when you have a gap in info. Enjoying the channel!
I have been to several plays and music productions at the George S. Lindsey Theater on the campus of the University of North Alabama located in Florence, AL. Very nice facility. He attended several productions there later in his life.
Again Mr. I really "THANK YOU" for doing what you do........ I remember these shows, and the people who made them,,,,, and it's interesting to know what's happened to them. I'm some 8 yrs older than you, so I have some more memories,,,,,,earlier, than maybe you do! Thanks SO MUCH! M.Gaud, in Yuma
George also played characters in two Alfred Hitchcock presents episodes.One episode was called "The Jar".I don't recall the title of the second one,but he played a cab driver who was blackmailing an ex passenger.They're both on you tube.Well worth watching.
I seem to remember reading that Lindsay was being considered for the role of Gomer Pyle until Andy Griffith saw Jim Neighbors performing at a LA nightclub, but they brought him back when it was decided that Neighbors was going to leave TAGS for the spin-off show. I’d also like to add that my no. 1 favorite episode of TAGS from the seasons filmed in color is “Goober Makes History” (Season 7, Episode 14), in which Lindsay gets to take the character of Goober in a whole new direction, with a beautifully written script by Paul David and Johnny Greene that is a very satisfying mix of humor (much of it involving the wonderful Howard McNear as Floyd), warmth and pathos. Andy’s attitude as the friend who just can’t stand it anymore (which, IMHO, is a disappointingly recurrent one in many episodes of the latter seasons), is uniquely appropriate and well-used in this story.
*Funny you mention that you watch something and it leads you to search about them...I do the same thing!* I'll see someone I recognize from the past and I google them and it leads me down a rabbit hole! Glad you're here to do all that digging for me LOL Thanks : ) If you ever get the chance, Betty White is one of my favorites...I'm sure there are hours worth of material on that priceless gem!
I go back in time every night and fall asleep watching mostly the black and whites of AG. Although there was nasty thing going on in the world then too as today this always settles me down and I forget life's bad events. R.I.P all You still live in your videos and always will live in my heart.
I do the same thing. When I watch one or two episodes of these old shows, it helps ease my anxiety from the world we live in today. They are my nightly bedtime ritual :)
@@CoolClassics I'm sure there are many nuts like us eh? However It's such a great place to go even though you know Andy's house is up the street from the church you can see in episode Man in a hurry and they all pile into the car love it.
Cool video. Goober was cool on AG shoe. Always made me laugh. He was smart, a veteran and an athlete, quite a paradox, for a man who played a dunce though!
Wow even more mind-blowing stuff I never could even imagine George Lindsey doing the part of mr. Spock absolutely incredible that's why I'm addicted to these videos I never knew any of this stuff from any of those shows incredible thank you so much
Thank you so much. In my first videos you can hear the nervousness in my voice. Nice comments like this make me not so afraid to loosen up and be natural when talking 😁
I attended Kemper Military School and George Lindsey came to the campus in the Spring of 1971 for a fundraiser where they sold expensive tickets for his big dinner at the schools restaurant (mess hall). I have pictures with him and my friends that were in charge of a lot of the event. Sadly, Kemper founded in 1844, closed in 2002. George gave and raised a lot of money for the school over the years.
I met Mr. Lindsey during Mardi Gras in Fairhope Alabama back in the 1990’s...I didn’t really know much about him as I didn’t follow actors etc. I now have my office just south of Jasper Alabama, live in Birmingham where Fairfield is a suburb and went to the University of Alabama where I was in the same fraternity as Jim Nabors decades prior. We have The Andy Griffith Show/Bonanza/Gun Smoke/MASH on all day in our operatories and see so many cross over from show to show that it’s entertaining seeing them on multiple shows in a day!
I was born in ‘51, 20 years before you. I grew up with Andy, Barney, Gomer, and Goober. I just shared this video with my sisters. I’m sure it will bring back fun memories for them too. Thanks.
What is cool, is that during the 70's and into the early 80's, all the shows from the 50's and 60's were being played constantly. So I lucked out and got grow up on them too :) But the 90's and 2000's, there were so many shows going or in reruns, that it diluted everything and the older ones got less airplay. Really a shame.
You sir are a problem for me. Some how I stumbled on your videos and they are close to an addiction for me. At my advanced age you are talking about things from my childhood I forgot about. Thanks for the memories and your presentations are genuine and quite fun. Now I guess I should try working again before they catch me watching all these.
To the "Cool Classics" narrator: I really enjoy how you "present yourself" during your video narrations. Simply, you talk to us in such a personal style, as if each viewer has your most immediate attention; as if each of us is the only one in the room at the moment. Such a pleasant style, indeed!
I truly enjoy your videos. They cover the shows I watched growing up and put a smile in my soul. When you mentioned Granite City Ill., I smiled because from the age of 6 to 12, I was growing up in Collinsville, Ill. My Step Father worked for a while with an engineering firm in Granite City.
@@CoolClassics Wow! you took the time to respond. Thanks. Ya, I remember my older cousins and brother debating that rivalry. Keep up your great work. The only problem I have with it is the fact that the videos captivate me and I lose track of time.Staying up too late and sometimes making me late! (hehe)Also, the videos tend to get me mushy with sentiment. Life goes so fast.
Thanks for posting another great video on a classic actor, George Lindsey. Andy Griffith Show was one of my favorites, still is. In fact, many of the Cool Classic programs were tremendously successful, and popular until the "Rural Purge" canceled them. Americans loved seeing these shows, but Hollywood producers, knowing they were much smarter, and knew better, they eliminated the all these great classics. I am not sure if you have already created a video on this poor decision, the ("Rural Purge"), but it would be a good one to create. Thanks again for sharing with us about George Lindsey.
Barney teaching Goober how to romance a girl by spying on Andy and Helen, then Goober getting to excited to contain his emotion... "way to Andy! You too Helen!: still so funny to watch.
It's too bad that Don Knotts left the show. He and George only had one year on the show together. I'm sure they could have made a lot of scenes together that cracked us up.
I saw an interview with Roy Clark where he said George hated being called Goober. He would correct people and say his name was George. However when he signed autographs he signed Goober because it was shorter to write.
I am actually very close related to George Lindsey as he is buried in my family grave reservation on my mothers side. Growing up a loved the Andy griffin show, and was surrounded by it, but I did not know I was related to goober until 2012 of his passing. I didn’t know of his funeral though (I did not attend) I’m very proud to be in his family, he was a character In an American hit. It still is insane, I’m related to someone who so cool to have been interviewed by opera and more. It is possible for randy Owen to be buried there too some day, if not with the band.
I am from ans live in the town of Boonville Missouri. I too attended Kemper Military School. My dad was the barber. I will never forget on a April Saturday i got to meet Geirge Lindsey. What an amaxing funny man. It was an honor to meet and attend the same school.
"Sheriff Taylor, it appears that the internal combustion mechanism in your law-enforcement vehicle is in perfect working order, and in no need of repair, despite not receiving it's scheduled maintenance. Fascinating." Ummmmm, nah.
@@franklindlbauer7958 Yeah, but I picked up on that in a few episodes as well...I could not give a flyin' f*ck if ' peg'S " below here thinks that's " odd " or not!!!!
George Lindsey originally tested for the part of Gomer and was about to get the part. That is until Andy Griffith saw Jim Nabors perform at a club called the Horn. He mentioned to producer Aaron Ruben that he had seen this guy that would be great for the part of Gomer. Of course Nabors became Gomer Pyle. When casting for the part of Goober Aaron Ruben remembered Lindsey and ultimately hired him. You couldn't have found a better actor to play Goober than the great George Lindsey.
I meet George Lindsey and got his autograph at his George Lindsey’s steak house in Memphis Tn on Summer Ave back in the 1960’s I don’t remember the exact year!