Grateful Memories of George ‘Goober’ Lindsey [VIDEO]

Goober Takes Off on Cary Grant (YouTube)

Do you have a favorite memory of actor George Lindsey?

When I asked myself that question, I realized how big an influence the actor who played Goober on 'The Andy Griffith Show' was on my childhood. He was in some of my favorite movies and TV shows.

George Lindsey died last Sunday, May 6, in Nashville, Tennessee at the age of 83.

One of my most loved Disney films is their animated classic 'Robin Hood.' It has all the great songs by Roger Miller and the comic duo of Ken Curtis, (Festus from 'Gunsmoke'), and George Lindsey doing the voices of the vultures, Nutsy and Trigger, hanging out on top of the gallows with their crossbows. (Lindsey's character had the itchy 'trigger')  They added just the right amount of down home flavor with their accents.

On television, not only did George Lindsey play Goober on 'The Andy Griffith Show,' he continued in that role on'Mayberry R.F.D.'  Between 1972 and 1992 he doled out some of the best jokes from the cornfield on 'Hee Haw.'

Remember when he was the southern surgeon Roy Dupree on 'M*A*S*H' who switched places with Hawkeye Pierce and was so irritating B.J. and Charles worked together to get rid of him?

Just a while ago I watched an episode of 'The Rifleman' where Lindsey played an escaped convict. He also appeared in several episodes of 'Gunsmoke' which my family seldom missed over it's 20 seasons.

Over the years, I guess I got well aquainted with George Lindsey in all his roles and will miss his big, grinning face.