George Lindsey
Encyclopedia
George Lindsey is an American character actor
, best known for his role as "Goober Pyle" on The Andy Griffith Show
, as well as for his tenure on Hee-Haw.
, and raised in the small town of Jasper, Alabama
. Lindsey graduated from Walker High School in 1946 and then attended Kemper Military School
and Florence State College (now the University of North Alabama) with a Bachelor of Bioscience
. Before moving to Los Angeles
, he was a public high school teacher at Hazel Green High School
in Hazel Green, Alabama
. After serving in the Air Force
, he tried to break into show business in New York City.
. His character was eventually renamed "Goober Pyle
" to retain the same name as his cousin Gomer Pyle
, another slow-witted yokel played by Jim Nabors
, another Alabamian. Goober's antics frequently included his exaggerated "Goober Dance" and his comically bad Cary Grant impression ("Judy, Judy, Judy").
As Lindsey started his portrayal as Goober, he also had a minor role in the Walter Brennan
series The Tycoon
on ABC
. Lindsey also had a role in Voyage To The Bottom of the Sea entitled Submarine Sunk Here.
retooled it as Mayberry R.F.D.
and Lindsey played the same character, until CBS
cancelled R.F.D. in 1971. Later in the 1970s, Lindsey guest starred on "M*A*S*H" as Roy Dupree, a Southern surgeon working at the 8063rd Unit who switched places at the 4077th with Hawkeye Pierce.
In 1972 Lindsey portrayed Charlie, one of a pair of highwaymen in the Gunsmoke
episode "Blind Man's Buff," and an escaped convict, "The Dove," in an episode of The Rifleman
. Disney
used his talents in a few projects, both as comedy support in features and voiceovers for a few of their animated
characters. Three Disney animated features that presented the voice of Lindsey were The Aristocats
(1970), Robin Hood
(1973) and The Rescuers
(1977). He also appeared in the 1967 Gunsmoke
episode "Mad Dog" as one of the Watson Brothers.
country music
variety show Hee Haw
, playing a more rustic version of the character. He appeared on that show from 1972 to 1992.
Following Hee Haw, George "Goober" Lindsey had a short cameo in the Rose Bowl episode of NewsRadio
, he was called as a witness in a consumer fraud civil case (where Mr. James bought what he thought was actual movie memorabilia from a teenage kid, but were actually fake) and was asked to identify and authenticate one of the items. Lindsey was asked only one question: "Mr. Lindsey, is this your skull?" He then took the skull in hand, examining it carefully, and said, "no." At that point he was dismissed. He is also seen at the end of the episode buying those same fake artifacts from Mr. James, who was trying to pawn them off as actual set pieces and movie memorabilia from popular films, including, once again, Lindsey's own supposed skull.
He established and perpetuated the George Lindsey Academic Scholarships at University of North Alabama.
Lindsey was the 1995 recipient of the Governor's Achievement Award - Alabama Music Hall of Fame. The State of Alabama
named the "George Lindsey Highway" in Birmingham after the actor. In 1998, he established the George Lindsey/UNA Film Festival that takes place at the University of North Alabama
annually in the spring.
He was the 1997 recipient of the Minnie Pearl Lifetime Achievement Award and the 2007 recipient of the first ICON Award presented by the Nashville Associations of Talent Directors.
His most recent guest appearance was on Larry the Cable Guy
's Hula Palooza Christmas Luau in 2009.
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, best known for his role as "Goober Pyle" on The Andy Griffith Show
The Andy Griffith Show
The Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised by CBS between October 3, 1960, and April 1, 1968. Andy Griffith portrays a widowed sheriff in the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina...
, as well as for his tenure on Hee-Haw.
Early life and career
George Lindsey was born in Fairfield, AlabamaFairfield, Alabama
Fairfield is a city in Jefferson County, Alabama, United States. It is part of the Birmingham–Hoover Metropolitan Area. The population was 12,381 at the 2000 census. As of 2006, the Census estimates the population to be 11,547.-History:...
, and raised in the small town of Jasper, Alabama
Jasper, Alabama
Jasper is a city in Walker County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 14,659. As of 2011 the population had was 13,857. The city is the county seat of Walker County, and once ranked among the world's leading producers of coal....
. Lindsey graduated from Walker High School in 1946 and then attended Kemper Military School
Kemper Military School
Kemper Military School & College was a private military school located in Boonville, Missouri. Kemper filed for bankruptcy and closed in 2002. The school's motto was "Nunquam Non Paratus" .-Early years under Frederick T. Kemper:...
and Florence State College (now the University of North Alabama) with a Bachelor of Bioscience
BioScience
BioScience is a peer-reviewed monthly sometimes daily scientific journal that is published by the American Institute of Biological Sciences . The content is written and edited for accessibility to researchers, educators, and students alike...
. Before moving to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, he was a public high school teacher at Hazel Green High School
Hazel Green High School
Hazel Green High School is a public high school in Hazel Green, Alabama, United States. It is operated by the Madison County Board of Education. HGHS currently has over 1,200 enrolled students in grades 9-12.-Building:...
in Hazel Green, Alabama
Hazel Green, Alabama
Hazel Green is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Madison County, Alabama, United States, and is included in the Huntsville-Decatur Combined Statistical Area. As of the 2010 census, the population of the community is 3,630.-History:...
. After serving in the Air Force
Air force
An air force, also known in some countries as an air army, is in the broadest sense, the national military organization that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army, navy or...
, he tried to break into show business in New York City.
The Andy Griffith Show, as "Goober Pyle" (1964)
In 1964, he got his big break as the slow-witted but kindly "Goober Beasley" on the now legendary The Andy Griffith ShowThe Andy Griffith Show
The Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised by CBS between October 3, 1960, and April 1, 1968. Andy Griffith portrays a widowed sheriff in the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina...
. His character was eventually renamed "Goober Pyle
Goober Pyle
Goober is a fictional character in the American TV sitcom The Andy Griffith Show and its later sequel series Mayberry RFD. He was played by George Lindsey. Lindsey initially read for the part of Gomer Pyle, which went to singer Jim Nabors...
" to retain the same name as his cousin Gomer Pyle
Gomer Pyle
Gomer Pyle is a bubbly, gentle, rural auto mechanic character played by American singer/ television actor Jim Nabors. Gomer Pyle became a character on the TV sitcom The Andy Griffith Show, when actor Howard McNear, who played Floyd the barber, suffered a stroke and took a respite from acting. Jim...
, another slow-witted yokel played by Jim Nabors
Jim Nabors
James Thurston "Jim" Nabors is an American actor and singer. Born and raised in Sylacauga, Alabama, Nabors moved to Southern California because of his asthma. While working at a Santa Monica nightclub, The Horn, he was discovered by Andy Griffith and later joined The Andy Griffith Show, playing...
, another Alabamian. Goober's antics frequently included his exaggerated "Goober Dance" and his comically bad Cary Grant impression ("Judy, Judy, Judy").
As Lindsey started his portrayal as Goober, he also had a minor role in the Walter Brennan
Walter Brennan
Walter Brennan was an American actor. Brennan won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor on three separate occasions, which is currently the record for most wins.-Early life:...
series The Tycoon
The Tycoon (TV series)
The Tycoon is a 32-episode American situation comedy television series broadcast by ABC. It starred Walter Brennan as the fictitious businessman Walter Andrews...
on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
. Lindsey also had a role in Voyage To The Bottom of the Sea entitled Submarine Sunk Here.
Mayberry R.F.D., other acting work
After Griffith left his television show, CBSCBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
retooled it as Mayberry R.F.D.
Mayberry R.F.D.
Mayberry R.F.D. is a spin-off and direct continuation of The Andy Griffith Show under a new title, for the same sponsor, General Foods...
and Lindsey played the same character, until CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
cancelled R.F.D. in 1971. Later in the 1970s, Lindsey guest starred on "M*A*S*H" as Roy Dupree, a Southern surgeon working at the 8063rd Unit who switched places at the 4077th with Hawkeye Pierce.
In 1972 Lindsey portrayed Charlie, one of a pair of highwaymen in the Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West....
episode "Blind Man's Buff," and an escaped convict, "The Dove," in an episode of The Rifleman
The Rifleman
The Rifleman is an American Western television program that starred Chuck Connors as homesteader Lucas McCain and Johnny Crawford as his son, Mark McCain. It was set in the 1880s in the town of North Fork, New Mexico Territory. The show, filmed in black-and-white with a half hour running time, ran...
. Disney
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
used his talents in a few projects, both as comedy support in features and voiceovers for a few of their animated
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
characters. Three Disney animated features that presented the voice of Lindsey were The Aristocats
The Aristocats
The Aristocats is a 1970 American animated feature produced and released by Walt Disney Productions in 1970 and stars Eva Gabor and Phil Harris, with Roddy Maude-Roxby as Edgar the butler, the villain of the story...
(1970), Robin Hood
Robin Hood (1973 film)
Robin Hood is an 1973 American animated film produced by the Walt Disney Productions, first released in the United States on November 8, 1973...
(1973) and The Rescuers
The Rescuers
The Rescuers is a 1977 American animated feature produced by Walt Disney Productions and first released on June 22, 1977. The 23rd film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, the film is about the Rescue Aid Society, an international mouse organization headquartered in New York and shadowing...
(1977). He also appeared in the 1967 Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West....
episode "Mad Dog" as one of the Watson Brothers.
As "Goober" on Hee Haw (1972–1992)
Lindsey put on his "Goober" act for the third and last time on the syndicatedTelevision syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
variety show Hee Haw
Hee Haw
Hee Haw is an American television variety show featuring country music and humor with fictional rural Kornfield Kounty as a backdrop. It aired on CBS-TV from 1969–1971 before a 20-year run in local syndication. The show was inspired by Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, the major difference being...
, playing a more rustic version of the character. He appeared on that show from 1972 to 1992.
Following Hee Haw, George "Goober" Lindsey had a short cameo in the Rose Bowl episode of NewsRadio
NewsRadio
NewsRadio is an American television situation comedy that aired on NBC from 1995 to 1999. The series was created by executive producer Paul Simms, and was filmed in front of a studio audience at CBS Studio Center and Sunset Gower Studios...
, he was called as a witness in a consumer fraud civil case (where Mr. James bought what he thought was actual movie memorabilia from a teenage kid, but were actually fake) and was asked to identify and authenticate one of the items. Lindsey was asked only one question: "Mr. Lindsey, is this your skull?" He then took the skull in hand, examining it carefully, and said, "no." At that point he was dismissed. He is also seen at the end of the episode buying those same fake artifacts from Mr. James, who was trying to pawn them off as actual set pieces and movie memorabilia from popular films, including, once again, Lindsey's own supposed skull.
Honors and citations
Lindsey has raised over $1,000,000 (USD) for Alabama Special Olympics through 17 years of the George Lindsey Celebrity Weekend and Golf Tournament in Montgomery, Alabama and another $50,000 for the Alabama Association of Retarded Citizens. and participated as Head Coach-Winter Games in Minneapolis, MN Special Olympics National Competition.He established and perpetuated the George Lindsey Academic Scholarships at University of North Alabama.
Lindsey was the 1995 recipient of the Governor's Achievement Award - Alabama Music Hall of Fame. The State of Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
named the "George Lindsey Highway" in Birmingham after the actor. In 1998, he established the George Lindsey/UNA Film Festival that takes place at the University of North Alabama
University of North Alabama
The University of North Alabama is a coeducational university located in Florence, Alabama, and the state's oldest four-year public university....
annually in the spring.
He was the 1997 recipient of the Minnie Pearl Lifetime Achievement Award and the 2007 recipient of the first ICON Award presented by the Nashville Associations of Talent Directors.
His most recent guest appearance was on Larry the Cable Guy
Larry the Cable Guy
Daniel Lawrence Whitney , better known by his stage name and character Larry the Cable Guy, is an American comedian, actor, and former radio personality....
's Hula Palooza Christmas Luau in 2009.