ACTOR
George Lindsey
19 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (19)
- #001
Although George Lindsey built his career playing variations of Goober, his most famous character from The Andy Griffith Show (1963) — a cheerful, good-hearted but somewhat slow-witted country type — he held a bachelor's degree in Biological Science from the University of North Alabama and worked as a science teacher before deciding to become an actor.
- #002
Lindsey and Academy Award-winning actor Ernest Borgnine became close friends over the 20 years before Lindsey's death. Borgnine, who admitted to suffering from depression, claimed that Lindsey's friendship saved his life.
- #003
According to Jim Nabors, Lindsey was first considered for the role of Gomer Pyle.
- #004
George Lindsey was a former high school teacher and briefly a stand-up comedian.
- #005
George Lindsey devoted much of his time to raising money for the Alabama Special Olympics.
- #006
Disney used his talents in a handful of projects, both as comic support in feature films and by giving vocal life to several animated characters.
- #007
Two of his closest friends, Andy Griffith and Ernest Borgnine, died two months after him.
- #008
In 2011 he was inducted into the University of North Alabama Athletic Hall of Fame. When Lindsey attended the school, it was called Florence State Teachers College.
- #009
George Lindsey played quarterback on the football team at Florence State Teachers College (now the University of North Alabama).
- #010
George Lindsey had a son, George Lindsey Jr., a daughter, Camden Jo Lindsey Gardner, and two grandchildren.
- #011
George Lindsey was born in Jasper, Alabama.
- #012
In 1983 he was inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame in the Young Philanthropist category.
- #013
George Lindsey graduated from the University of North Alabama in Florence, Alabama. Since 1998 he had promoted the George Lindsey Film Festival there.
- #014
George Lindsey moved to Hollywood in the early 1960s.
- #015
Before going to Los Angeles in the early '60s, George Lindsey appeared in several musicals ("All-American" and "Wonderful Town").
- #016
George Lindsey played Goober Pyle at least once in The Andy Griffith Show, The New Andy Griffith Show, Mayberry RFD, Hee Haw, Gomer Pyle USMC, and the TV films Goober & the Truckers' Paradise and Return to Mayberry.
- #017
George Lindsey studied at Kemper Military School & College in Boonville, Missouri.
- #018
In 1956 George Lindsey joined the American Theatre Wing in New York.
- #019
George Lindsey was Anne Wilson's partner until his death in 2012.
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