An excellent character actress.

Thank you, my friend Maj Marty Hogan for making us aware that December 14 is the anniversary of the birth of American stage and television actress Frances Elizabeth Bavier who is probably "best known for her role of Aunt Bee on The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry R.F.D. from 1960 to 1970."
Rest in peace Frances Elizabeth Bavier.

Carolina Camera: Aunt Bee Retires
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyhkr9nI88k

Images:
1. Frances Bavier middle to late 1920's
2. Frances Bavier as a young girl in the early 1900's
3. Frances Bavier as Aunt Bee
4. Andy Griffith, Ron Howard and Frances Bavier 'Andy Griffith Show

Biographies
1. imdb.com/name/nm0062592/bio
2. alchetron.com/Frances-Bavier

Background from imdb.com/name/nm0062592/bio
Frances Bavier Biography
Overview
Born December 14, 1902 in New York City, New York, USA
Died December 6, 1989 in Siler City, North Carolina, USA (congestive heart failure due to heart attack)
Birth Name Frances Elizabeth Bavier

Mini Bio (1)
Frances Bavier was born in New York City on December 14, 1902. Her first Broadway appearance was in April 1925 in "The Poor Nut", the start of a successful Broadway career. She traveled with the USO to entertain the U.S. troops in the Pacific during World War II. Her last appearance on Broadway was in the 1951 play, "Point of No Return" starring Henry Fonda. It ran for 356 performances.

Her first movie was the 1951 sci-fi classic The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), which was also the first time Frances appeared with Olan Soule. He later went on to play Mayberry's choir director, John Masters, on the The Andy Griffith Show (1960). In the movie, they were both boarders in the rooming house where the alien stayed. She made many movies during the 50s and appeared on TV as featured characters on shows like It's a Great Life (1954) and The Eve Arden Show (1957) before what would become her most famous role, that of Aunt Bee to Andy Taylor (Andy Griffith) and Opie Taylor (Ron Howard) on The Andy Griffith Show (1960).
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Allan Newsome < [login to see] >
Spouse Russell Carpenter (1928 - 1933) ( divorced)

Trivia (9)
1. A life-long exponent of Studebaker automobiles. The last car she bought was a 1966 model, the last model year for the make, made in the Canadian plant in Hamilton, Ontario. Some accounts say that the car was a 1964, the last year of production in the US plant in South Bend, Indiana. During the production of The Andy Griffith Show (1960) and Mayberry R.F.D. (1968) she drove herself to and from the studio in it. Reportedly, it can be seen in the latter series. Miss Bavier took it to her home in North Carolina after she retired there and is believed to have last driven it in 1983. After her death in 1989, it was found sitting on four flat tires and its interior had been ruined by cats. Even so, two Andy Griffith fans bought it for $20,000 at auction.
2. "Nobody will move me, I am not a dining room table, I am not a sofa, I am not a rug, how dare you!" [her reaction to Howard Morris trying to rearrange the set].
3. She performed in the live action reference footage for Walt Disney's "Sleeping Beauty" (1959).
4. Despite her good-hearted image on screen, cast members of The Andy Griffith Show (1960) often remember her as difficult, temperamental and somewhat cold. Griffith himself said "There was just something about me she did not like.".
5. She bought her Siler City home sight unseen after falling in love with the beauty of North Carolina. "I, like a child, came here looking for a fairyland" she once said.
6. Sadly, when Bavier retired in 1972, she quickly became a recluse in her two-story Siler City, North Carolina home. She rarely left the house. She left most of her $700,000 estate to a hospital foundation. The home in which she lived in for 17 years was poorly upheld upon her death, nearly irreparable from the damage caused by her 14 house cats.
7. After moving to North Carolina upon her retirement, Frances was initially named honorary chairman of the Christmas Seal drive for the Mid-State Tuberculosis and Respiratory Disease Association and was appointed chairman of the 1973 Easter Seal Campaign for the North Central Chapter of the state Easter Seal society. As time passed, however, Bavier found herself overwhelmed by demands of her services and retreated forever.
8. In an interview, when director Ron Howard was pressed as to the stories of discord with her on the set of The Andy Griffith Show (1960), all he would say was, "I just don't think she enjoyed being around children that much.".
9. Her ex-husband Russell Carpenter was in the military. They divorced after five years due to conflicting career ambitions.

Personal Quotes (1)
1. [speaking in the 1970s] I had played Aunt Bee for ten years and it's very, very difficult for an actress or actor to create a role and be so identified that you as a person no longer exist and all the recognition you get is for a part that's created on screen."

Background from alchetron.com/Frances-Bavier
" Frances Bavier
Cause of death: Heart attack
Years active: 1930–1974
Resting place: Oakwood Cemetery
Other names: Hazel Howard
Role: Television actress
Occupation: Actress


Full Name Frances Elizabeth Bavier
Born December 14, 1902 (1902-12-14) New York City, New York, U.S.
Alma mater Columbia University American Academy of Dramatic Arts
Died December 6, 1989, Siler City, North Carolina, United States
Education Columbia University, American Academy of Dramatic Arts
Awards Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Known for The Andy Griffith Show, Mayberry R.F.D.
Movies and TV shows The Andy Griffith Show, Mayberry RFD, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Benji, Man in the Attic

2. Frances bavier an american stage and television actress
Frances Elizabeth Bavier (December 14, 1902 – December 6, 1989) was an American stage and television actress. Originally from New York theatre, Bavier worked in film and television from the 1950s. She is best known for her role of Aunt Bee on The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry R.F.D. from 1960–70. 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.

Early life and career
Born in New York City in a brownstone on Gramercy Park to Charles S., a stationary engineer, and Mary S. (née Birmingham) Bavier, Frances 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.
Bavier had roles in more than a dozen films, as well as playing 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 the episode, she fights with Tonto while the Lone Ranger battles with her nephew. At the conclusion, Tonto says that he would like to trade opponents next time. In 1957, she played Nora Martin, mother to Eve Arden's character on The Eve Arden Show, despite the fact that Arden was only 6 or 7 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 Make Room for Daddy, 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 new 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.
In contrast to her character, Bavier was easily offended on the set, and the production staff took a very cautious approach when communicating with her. Series star Andy Griffith once admitted the two clashed sometimes during the series' long run. In an April 24, 1998, appearance on Larry King Live, Griffith said Bavier phoned him four months before she died and apologized for being "difficult" during the series' run.
Bavier won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Comedy in 1967.

Later years
In 1972, 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 never married or had children. Somewhat awkward in one-on-one relationships, she was nonetheless altruistic at heart. 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.

Death
On November 22, 1989, Bavier was admitted to Chatham Hospital, where she was kept in the coronary care unit for two weeks. She was discharged on December 4, 1989, and died at her home two days later, eight days before her 87th birthday. 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 COPD. Upon her death, she was found to have had 14 cats and worn furniture, fixtures, and carpet. She was described "...as living a sparse life in her latter years, a very quiet life". 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."


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The roles people play do not always reflect the real person.