George "Goober" Lindsey of 'Andy Griffith Show' fame dies at age 83

George “Goober” Lindsey, most widely known for playing Goober Pyle on the iconic television series The Andy Griffith Show, died at 12:05 a.m. Sunday in Nashville after an extended hospitalization. He was 83.

As long as his health allowed, he was still making people smile. The Hee Haw star showed up at Ray Stevens’ CD release party Feb. 28 at The Rutledge in Nashville to lend support to his good friend and fellow comedian. Stevens beamed from the stage as he thanked Mr. Lindsey for being there.

“He was in a wheelchair that night and he was really going out of his way to show up for that,” says Stevens, who was friends with Lindsey for 35 years. “That’s the kind of friend he was. He was on his last legs that night.”

Actor Andy Griffith said in a statement that accompanied the family’s Sunday-morning announcement of Mr. Lindsey’s death: “George Lindsey was my friend. I had great respect for his talent and his human spirit. In recent years, we spoke often by telephone. Our last conversation was a few days ago. We would talk about our health, how much we missed our friends who passed before us and usually about something funny. I am happy to say that as we found ourselves in our eighties, we were not afraid to say, ‘I love you.’ That was the last thing George and I had to say to each other. ‘I love you.’ ”

The Nashville resident’s career was much broader than the confines of Mayberry. Mr. Lindsey also appeared in M*A*S*H, Gunsmoke, Herbie the Love Bug and C.H.I.P.S. He was in movies including Take This Job and Shove It and Cannonball Run II, was a judge for the Miss USA pageant for years, and lent his voice to an assortment of animated Disney characters in movies including The Aristocats, The Rescuers and Robin Hood. He recorded a comedy album in 1971 called Goober Sings!, and was a member of the Hee Haw cast for 20 years.

Mr. Lindsey was born in Fairfield, Ala., Dec. 17, 1928, to parents George Ross Lindsey and Alice Smith Lindsey, and grew up in Jasper, Ala. His mother was disabled, and his father struggled to find work. He was the couple’s only child and was primarily raised by his grandparents. He enjoyed spending time at his Aunt Ethel’s gas station, where the mechanics wore felt caps to keep the grease and oil from the cars from dripping in their hair. Their caps inspired the beanie Mr. Lindsey wore as Goober on The Andy Griffith Show.