Dear hearts, today is the birthday of yet another entertainment icon from my youth.
Frances Elizabeth Bavier was born this day in 1902 in Manhattan, New York City. She was a widely known and loved stage and television actress and indeed, I considered her a part of my family from a very young age. She passed in Siler City North Carolina December 6, 1989. This was the general area in which those programs of Andy Griffith and Mayberry originated.
She portrayed Aunt Bee on The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry RFD — which I viewed much less during my television watching — and she is noted for her career in theater prior to making the migration to film and television in the 1950s ...
When I was just a sprout.
She won an Emmy Award for outstanding performance as Aunt Bee in 1967.
There were other noteworthy roles and I have taken note of these which pop up on the television of late. Her end was tragic to the point of tear jerking in my memory. She will always be my Aunt Bee ...
I am fortunate to have been one of those in her audience.