Frances Bavier really was one of television’s great ladies – and she forever inscribed herself in the history books as ”Aunt Bee” in the legendary comedy show “The Andy Griffith Show”.
In my opinion, Bavier did a wonderful job with her role in one of the most wholesome TV show series ever made.
But actress, classically trained in New York, was actually so unlike the homespun character she portrayed. Her sophistication and age sometimes put her at odds with the ”kids” on the set.
After ”The Andy Griffith Show” ended, many rumors circulated around the lovable “Aunt Bee” – it was alleged that Frances Bavier was very rude to her colleagues and that she hated her role. Some said that the actress didn’t approve of the joking around and language used behind the scenes.
Her final days of life have been described as tragic – but was that really the whole truth? It turns out that the image of Bavier is much more complicated and more multifaceted than many thought …
A young Frances Bavier
Frances Bavier was born in 1902 in Manhattan, New York. Frances’s dad worked as a stationary engineer and her mother was a stay-at-home mom.
As a teenager, Bavier initially intended to become a teacher and went to Columbia University. But her time at university turned into a nightmare for the young woman.
“I was bad there,” Bavier told The Charlotte News, continuing:
“Very bad. Actually, I was terrified. That’s probably the reason I enrolled at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.”
Frances, who had a great interest in theatre and acting, first tried to make a living in vaudeville before giving Broadway stage a try. But the promising actress wanted to further develop her acting and therefore she went to the American Academy of the Arts, graduating in 1925.
Her big break came when she landed a role in the Broadway production of ”On Borrowed Time”. When the United States was drawn into World War II, Bavier traveled with the USO to the Pacific to entertain U.S troops and offer some entertainment in a tough environment.
After the war, the talented and gorgeous Frances then made her television debut in the crime drama series “Racket Squad”, which aired in 1952. After that, things went smoothly for Bavier, who landed several different roles in TV productions and movies.
But her biggest and most significant role was still waiting for her …
Frances Bavier husband
Believe it or not – it’s actually not entirely clear if Frances was married or not. There are several different sources that contradict each other, but if we’re to believe Frances herself, she was actually married once.
It has been speculated that her husband was Russel Carpenter, a military man. The marriage is supposed to have lasted between 1928 and 1933.
In an interview from 1964, with the Star-Gazette, Frances is said to have reflected on her marriage, according to Closer Weekly:
“I married a man who was charming in every way, except that, being non-professional, he had little patience with my dedication to acting. I wanted to be both wife and actress, but learned quickly that this is impossible, at least in my specific case. To paraphrase Shakespeare, it was not that I loved him less, but I loved acting more. I know that many psychologists, particularly women psychologists, hold that a woman can have both a home and a career. But that is generally not the husband’s point of view and I sympathize entirely with the man who wants his wife to be completely devoted to him and their children,” Frances said.
Did Frances Bavier hate Andy Griffith?
When Bavier starred in an episode of “Make Room for Daddy” – alongside Andy Griffith and Ron Howard – it was the beginning of something that would change her entire life.
That episode was the starting shot for “The Andy Griffith Show”, where Bavier played ”Aunt Bee Taylor” – the paternal aunt of widower Sheriff Andy Taylor – and was known for her Southern cooking skills.
The series was a huge success and the inhabitants of the fictional town named Mayberry became very popular for the way they maintained the strict, moral code of the 1950s and 1960s.
Frances Bavier logged 10 Mayberry years, more than any other character, and she also won an Emmy Award for her role as the loveable ”Aunt Bee”, in 1967.
But it is said she was not nice and very difficult on set. She had a reputation for being ”standoffish and a prima donna”, and clashed with Andy Griffith several times.
“[She] was a rather remote lady. Highly professional and a fine comedienne, fine actress with very individual character. She was rather self-contained and wa not part of the general hi-jinks that centered upon Andy on the set,” producer Sheldon Leonard said in The Andy Griffith Show Book.
Frances had a hate-love relationship towards her famous role. She had the sense of being “trapped” in her character and she wanted to be known as Frances Bavier, not Aunt Bee.
