George Lindsey played Gomer Pyle’s bumbling cousin. George was a very generous man, he raised over $1,000,000 for the 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 for the Winter Games in the Minneapolis, Minnesota 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 named the “George Lindsey Highway” in Jasper, Alabama 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 Association of Talent Directors. Sadly, he passed away in 2012, at the age of 83.
Aneta Continues Acting
Corsaut had a continuing role as policeman Bumper Morgan's pawn-shop-owner friend on the series The Blue Knight and as Irma Howell in the short-lived series Mrs. G. Goes to College. In the TV series Adam-12, Corsaut portrayed Officer Pete Malloy's girlfriend, Judy. She had a supporting role as Head Nurse Bradley in the 1980s sitcom House Calls , and also appeared in several episodes of Matlock with star Andy Griffith . In addition, Corsaut played the role of nurse Jesse Brewer in 1977 on the long-running ABC soap opera General Hospital when long-time portrayer Emily McLaughlin was too ill to work.
Aneta returned for two reunion shows, 1986’s Return to Mayberry and 1993’s The Andy Griffith Show Reunion. She also made appearances on dozens of TV shows, such as Gunsmoke, Rich Man, Poor Man, and The Runaways. She died of cancer in 1995 and was buried in Hollywood.
Smith Lends His Voice
Hal was best known for his role as Otis Campbell , the town drunk on The Andy Griffith Show. However, Smith was also active in voice-over roles, having played many characters on various animated shorts, including Owl in the first four original Winnie the Pooh shorts (the first three of which were combined into the feature film The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh) and later The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Uncle Tex on The Flintstones, Goliath in Davey and Goliath, and Flintheart Glomgold and Gyro Gearloose on DuckTales, as well as multiple other characters in The Huckleberry Hound Show, The Quick Draw McGraw Show, The Gumby Show, The Jetsons, Top Cat, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, Clutch Cargo, Hong Kong Phooey, and many more.
Smith is also known to radio listeners as the original voice of John Avery Whittaker in Adventures in Odyssey. After his wife Louise passed away in 1992, Smith’s health quickly deteriorated. He died of a heart attack in 1994.
Barney Fife Moves In
Although Don Knotts was best known as Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show, Knotts returned to series television in his second most identifiable role, the wacky-but-lovable landlord Ralph Furley on ‘Three’s Company’, alongside John Ritter. The series, which was already an established hit, added Knotts to the cast when the original landlords, Helen Roper and her husband Stanley Roper (a married couple played by Audra Lindley and Norman Fell , respectively) left the series to star in their own short-lived spin-off series (The Ropers).
Don also appeared in many television and film cameos. In 1979, TV Guide ranked him #27 on its 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time list.
Andy and Don Were Bros for Life
Andy Griffith and Don Knotts were actually lifelong best friends. Their friendship was the most important thing to the both of them. Their long-standing friendship started in New York City when the two acted together in a Broadway play called “No Time for Sergeant” in 1955.
Five years later, the duo was reunited in The Andy Griffith Show , and from then on they were inseparable. Andy was there when Knotts passed away in 2006 at the age of 81 from lung cancer. Sadly, Griffith himself passed away six years later at the age of 86.