Was Frances Bavier TVs Biggest Bitch???

Aunt Bee had psychological issues and before she died she apologized to that execrable bastard Andy Griffith for her unkind behavior.

Lucy had burdens and had her heart broken. Bea was better than her medium and her material. Roseanne was certifiably insane. And is.

But the TV King Dykes - Rosie and Ellen - are the worst, most hateful, most cold-hearted, most inauthentic, most dishonest, most full-of-themselves bitches in television history.

I was always curious about her. Guess I always felt she was gay...but there is so little about her out there. I know she had a brother and lived with him when she was an actress in nyc on stage

I once came across an ancient issue of TV Guide that featured an interview with Frances. At one point she twists a wedding ring she wore around her ring finger and says, "Yes, I was married once upon a time..." but there is no follow-up the question, so who knows if she really was or if it was just a ruse like Raymond Burr's dead wives and dead children.

Ellen is a bully? I know Rosie is/was, but Ellen?

Johnny Carson was a bitch.

the actress who played Helen Crump, Aneta Corsaut, was likely a lesbian. A beautiful actress never linked to any man.

The best Ain't Bee episode was when she got all uppity after going on a quiz show and winning a houseful of new furniture and appliances. She had a glorious time looking down her nose on all the hicks in town with their shabby houses and bragging about her new-found wealth. After weeks of being cunty to all her friends, all the prizes get repossessed because she couldn't pay the tax bill, ensuring she'd have to walk around Mayberry with her face cracked for the rest of her life. Sweet.

R6, not only was she was linked to a man, but Andy Griffin, no less.

That would be Griffith, idiot at R8.

Andy Griffith was a muscular hunk!

Didn't she keep the dishwasher, r7?

To me she looked like one of those old biddies who smelled of urine.

And how was that old witch's name supposed to be pronounced? The anglicized was as bay-vee-urr or in its original French as baah-vee-ayyy?

She wasn't really a bitch. She just saw it as a job. She wanted to come in, deliver her lines the best she could, then go home. The rest of the cast hung out and were great friends and apparently stayed that way until they died. Frances just wasn't that into them. Her best episodes were when her and the ladies club got drunk and when she was the warden for Otis.

She kept the garbage disposal. Helen Crump was fucking Andy during the run of the show. She fucked around on her boyfriend, he on his wife.

[quote] Her best episodes were when her and the ladies club got drunk and when she was the warden for Otis.

I liked the ones where she tries to drive.

Poor Crump. They had to keep going through prospective girlfriends for Andy until they found one who viewers were totally ambivalent about. They wanted to keep as the single dad sheriff instead of a rom/com. The got rid of Ellie Walker because the fan mail for her and Andy went through the roof. Her season was all about her and Andy and it was very good. The fans loved her and the chemistry was clear. Then Miss Peggy....the fans fell in love with her almost as much as Ellie...bye Peggy. Finally the Crump came along and no one gave a shit about her. The episodes with Ellie are clearly the best though.

Who could forget the episode where she opens a Chinese restaurant to huge success. Then, she reads a fortune cookie that warns of impending disaster and gets all panicky. She eventually sells the restaurant, all because of the fortune cookie. Aunt Bee was not a well woman.

She wasn't even nice to Andy Griffith. What a cunt.

Aunt Bee had to be super-smart. I remember she got her pilot's license in less than 30 minutes. That's pretty amazing. (I was always curious why her name was abbreviated as Bee instead of Bea since her name was Beatrice.)

It was rumored that Mick Jagger was the love child of Aunt Bee and Barney Fife.

R16's reasoning doesn't make any sense. Actresses who played Andy Griffith's girlfriends were fired because they were too WELL LIKED? Seems to me a well-liked character would be kept on the show. And "they wanted to keep as the single dad sheriff instead of a rom/com?" What the hell do you think happened with Andy and Helen Crump? They became a committed couple very quickly, she eventually became The One, and Andy married her, so I guess their union constituted a "rom/com." I don't know what most viewers thought about Miss Crump, but I couldn't stand her. On her first appearance on the show, she antagonizes the students in her (hstory) class; Opie complains about her to Andy and he tells him he thinks Miss Crump is out of line. Opie tells Miss Crump what Andy said during class with all the other students agreeing with him. Well, Miss Crump comes storming into Andy's office, chews him out and snarls at him to "MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS!" You might think Andy would thing "what a bitch!" and dismiss her from his mind but he feels guilty so he tells Opie about history in a way that makes it sound interesting and exciting. Opie goes back to class with a renewed interest in his studies that his father ignited with his stories and he makes it seem so neat that his classmates are eager to learn the fascinating subject. Helen Crump, seeing as how Andy was responsible for this, goes to him to thank him...they make amends, and well, love is in the air. But I always hated the volatile, stuck up Helen Crump, who was always losing her temper and screeching at poor Andy, who just seemed to take her outbursts in stride.

She should've bearded for Jim Nabors.

R21, break up your post or I refuse to read it.

I don't indulge arrogance.

The biggest bitch on TV was actually Helen Hayes. She once shoved Mildred Natwick's face onto a hot griddle for missing a cue on the set of an episode of "The Snoop Sisters" set in a French restaurant. And she was known to make Jack Lord cry like a little girl during her guest appearances on "Hawaii Five-Oh."

I think Lucy has to win biggest bitch. Who else could make Joan Crawford sob, "And they call [italic]me[/italic] a bitch!" during a guest appearance on her show?

Posts like r24 are lame and witless but they happen quite often. I suspect they are written by straight women attempting to impersonate gay men.

[quote]Who else could make Joan Crawford sob, "And they call me a bitch!" during a guest appearance on her show?

I would've like to try, but that cunt wouldn't appear on my show!

Aunt Bee was hated by all the cast members even Jim Nabors who like Hitler, honest to goodness, Hitler.

Fran Bavier's tongue was pure magic when it was buried in my pussy.

At least we know r26 is this thread's biggest cunt.

What did she apologize for to Andy Griffith ?

Did Frances finger herself to Hope Summers' nude scene in "Rosemary's Baby?"

I think her reputation is much like Bea Arthur's, stage actress who made it big as a tv actress and hated the fame because it was for something they did just for the paycheck.

R24 I agree that the remark is witless, but I knew someone who worked as a stage manager who said Helen Hayes was a big bitch and Judith Anderson (whom we all probably assume was one) was actually funny and nice.

Judith Anderson was a nut for soap operas. She even appeared on "Santa Barbara" and said she wouldn't watch it because it was opposite "General Hospital". I can imagine her being much more down to earth.

[quote] Posts like r24 are lame and witless but they happen quite often.

You mean like your own post above on this thread, where you say of Frances Bavier, "To me she looked like one of those old biddies who smelled of urine."

Frances Bavier said she was born to play Eleanor Roosevelt and instead got Aunt Bee. This was one delusional bitch

Eleanor Donahue who played Elly was not liked by Andy. She was popular with the audience but the producers did not want Andy Taylor married, which the audience expected Andy and Elly to do. On another note, Geroge Goober Lyndsay said he should have been nicer to Ronnie Howard. Ronnie never wanted George in any of his movies.

I'm a native of N.C. From what I've heard, by the time she died, Frances Bavier had alienated everyone in her life. She died alone in a nursing facility in Pittsboro, NC. Andy Griffith, also from N.C., was a horrible man. He was disliked since back in his school days in Mount Airy. Very egotistical know-it-all. I'm sure that show was a complete mess to work on with all those toxic personalities. The only one who wasn't an asshole was Don Knotts. I guess he was the peace keeper.

[quote] Frances Bavier said she was born to play Eleanor Roosevelt

Not while I was alive.

If the producers "did not want Andy married" why did they eventually marry him off to the atrocious Helen Crump? Were that ratings so bad by that time that desperate measures were in order, like marriage and a baby? Yes, Andy and Helen did at some point become parents to a baby boy. In the Andy Griffith show reunion there's Opie of course, but the son with Helen is not mentioned at all.

Um. They married him off on his last episode.

Oddly enough Andy Griffith was one of three shows to call it quits while being the #1 show in the yearly ratings. The others were I Love Lucy and Seinfeld. (Though Andy Griffith and I Love Lucy spawned continuation shows).

[quote]Um. They married him off on his last episode.

No, they didn't. Andy and Helen were married in the first episode of the continuation series "Mayberry RFD"

The last episode of Andy Griffith was a set up for Mayberry RFD.

The second to last episode (the REAL last episode) was when Goober tried a computer dating service and got matched with a PHD.

Well whatever.....it was close enough to the end you stupid cunt.

Was this horseshoes or hand grenades? Cause it's those, close don't cut it.

Don Knotts said Andy Griffith had a problem with women - he was uncomfortable around them - and that was an issue with Elinor. I don't know why it wasn't with Corseault. Maybe she was more of a tomboyish type or he realized there had to be somebody in the love interest role and he couldn't keep rejecting everyone.

I love all the bitching about long-dead bitches!!! Gimme more. BTW, I agree with the poster who mentioned the "urine smell;" she did seem kinda smellybox, considering how back in the day, people usually only bathed once a week - Saturday night - and since she was so generously proportioned, she likely built up quite a funk "downtown" through the week! Below see "Bee" in the tub, caught by "Peepin' Otis."

Otis was too drunk to notice the smell "down there."

[quote] Andy Griffith had a problem with women - he was uncomfortable around them - and that was an issue with Elinor.

Or the fact he was almost old enough to be her father.

R50 But surely Elinor knew that Father Knows Best.

I thought daddy knew best, I was wrong

R23 Frances Bavier is back from the dead!

Perhaps she was a bitch, but according to a new book about Griffith and Knotts, they were both cheating on their wives with others and Andy had a serious problem with rage. So who could blame her for not getting along with those two?

I remember reading a story about Ron Howard trying to visit Bavier years after the show was over. I think he was filming a movie near her hometown and he showed up at her house and she either refused to speak to him at all or quickly brushed him off her porch. Apparently, she also admitted in later years that she wasn't happy during the show's run and apologized to Griffith for being difficult.

Even though it appears she had her issues, I imagine the Andy Griffith set was a huge boys club not unlike the Cheers set years later. Being the only female regular probably wouldn't have been easy for anyone.

Don Knotts was the only one who could calm Andy down.

Any homo sex on the set?

Ron Howard knew Aunt Bee was a bitch, the first season he skinned his knee and it was bleeding so he ran crying to Frances, and she looked it and said, "So?"

Apparently Andy had an affair with Aneta Corseault (Helen Crump) during the show's run. Maybe that was the problem with Elinor - she wouldn't have sex with him.

[quote]Any homo sex on the set?

Yes. Rock Hudson stopped by one day. He didn't make any friends but he had Nabors up the ass.

Frances was known for her "unhygienic" nature

I became a man in her arms.

Howie Morris (Ernest T. Bass) directed a few episodes and got read for filth by Frances during a rehearsal. While blocking a scene, he said, "Let's move you over here," to which she replied, "I will NOT be moved! I am not a piece of furniture!"

[quote]I'm sure that show was a complete mess to work on with all those toxic personalities.

Maybe it was but despite that, "The Andy Griffith Show" had flawless top-notch ensemble acting.

Watch how brilliant Don Knotts, Jim Nabors and Griffith are in the famous "Citizens Arrest" scene. They are just so into it.

No one, but no one could do a scene like this today. Today's comic actors would be self aware, they'd be "ironic", they'd be in on the joke, they'd let us all know how funny they think they are.

Sizemological data on Andy?

Why was Floyd the barber so weird? Was his character supposed to have special needs?

I never warmed to her - and thought she was a terrible actress. Her character was a real ice-cold bitch.

Liked the hair-pie?

Not as big as me

Didn't she have a think with Don Knotts?

R68 is the mad bumper, apparently, today bumping ancient threads about TV characters who were total bitches.

R59 I wondered how Miss Grump stayed on the show, her character was nasty and she was always pissed at Andy about something.

Irene Ryan was no saint on Hillbillies. Her bitch-ery was legendary. She did not appreciate Max Baer and Donna Douglas treating the job like it was a breeze on and off. Visitors to the set would often hear Ryan blasting both of them for being late and not knowing their lines. She had no issue with Buddy Ebsen, but could be cunty to guest stars. I don't think it's an accident that fellow scene sealer Bea Benaderet never came back as Cousin Pearl.

I wish I'd never read this thread. Aneta and Andy bumping uglies? Don Knotts cheating (who would hit that??)? Irene Ryan a bitch on wheels?

I want to unring this bell.

Frances wanted to leave Mayberry and go with Jim Nabors on "Gomer Pyle USMC" but Andy Griffith refused and that started the lifelong enmity among them

Donna Douglas had nothing but good things to say about Irene. She adored her.

Donna's real rival in Tinsletown was Connie Stevens. They hated each other. Donna didn't compete but Connie went out of her way to offend Donna. Connie had pals at Modern Screen, Photoplay and all the other movie mags who would prop her up and make fun of Donna's accent and wardrobe. Donna was the mother of a young son who lived back East with her parents and she saved every nickel she made for him. Connie was determined to be the deb of the year and would show up at premieres and launch impulsively into song.

Why would Aunt Bee follow Gomer into the Marines??

R78 — So she could learn to be a better lezzie-bin.

Andy has always been an enigma to me. His "anti-Andy Taylor" role in A Face in the Crowd showed a brilliant acting talent that he rarely ever showed again. Lonesome Rhodes was scary and mean and downright evil. Andy played the role to the hilt and vowed never to do something that dark again. It really affected him. But THAT is the more intense "dark side" of Andy Taylor, the flip-side. Should be required viewing for any Andy Griffith fan.

I have always wondered why he was uncomfortable around women. Elinor Donahue was perfection as Ellie Walker but she was not happy in the role and all her interviews over the years are vague about why. She always defers to her "personal stuff going on with me at that time" and that Andy was nice to her but the scriptwriters didn't know what to do with her character (what, huh?) and so forth. She said she was "not funny" but that Andy and Don WERE funny. But the thing is, her character was so warm and likeable that the humor was situational. She did not need to "be funny." There were plenty of laughs with the situations (i.e. when Ellie's brother/doctor came to town , portrayed by the gay actor George Nader btw, and Barney thought he and Ellie were falling for each other so Andy got jealous) and she was such a welcome presence. Helen Crump was a cunt. A bona fide shreaking cunt.

I used to have a bit of a crush on Andy Griffith (the young Andy, anyway) and would watch episodes to see how he filled out his sheriff's uniform. I thought he had quite a nice butt and loved scenes that showed it off, as when he would bend over or lean against the sheriff's desk, etc. May sound kind of pervy but he had that dark wavy hair and that big grin and was so....masculine yet gentle. That sort of character.

I have heard the occasional rumor that he was gay but seriously doubt it based upon the stories of his affair with Aneta Corsault and his marriages, etc. Never much traction to those rumors. I just think he was a complex man that few really knew or understood.

Frances Bavier did apologize years later for not being very nice to Andy, yes. I think it was not that complicated. She fancied herself an "actress" and got stuck playing Aunt Bee..for a hefty salary. I bet she felt she compromised her career in that regard, the same as Robert Reed felt about playing dad Brady. He had been a Shakesperean actor and had been on TV in The Defenders. He hated doing The Brady Bunch with a passion (adored the children, though) but took the paycheck. And felt like a sellout. He fought with Sherwood Schwartz over scripts. Many of those iconic characters were portrayed by talented and trained stage and screen actors, which is why they were so GOOD.

How is the 1980s reunion movie Return to Mayberry? Is it worth spending ten bucks on, or is it as bad as The Return of the Beverly Hillbillies (woof)?

It's better than the Beverly Hillbillies reunion. Not great, though.

Does anyone remember Andy's post Andy Griffith show as a headmaster at a boys school? Lee Meriwether played his wife. It had one ep where a kid was selling drugs. It was a step up from TAGS and I forget if it was supposed to be a drama or a comedy?

Griffith is also very good in Winter Kill, a little-seen TV movie from '74.

[quote] Why was Floyd the barber so weird? Was his character supposed to have special needs?

Howard McNear, who played Floyd, had a stroke a couple of seasons into TAGS. Prior to the stroke, Floyd was shown standing and trimming hair. After the stroke, he took a year and a half hiatus from the show before returning at Andy Griffith's request. After he returned, he was typically shown sitting inside the barbershop or on the park bench in front of the shop, gesturing with one hand as he spoke his lines. The other hand--paralyzed from the stroke--usually held some sort of prop, like a newspaper.

I believe Howard Sprague, who lived with his mother, was Mayberry's resident homosex...er, I mean...confirmed bachelor.

[quote]Ellen is a bully? I know Rosie is/was, but Ellen?

From 2016 How WRONG you're