FRANCES BAVIER BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:
 
Frances Bavier was born on December 14th, 1902 in New York City, New York with the middle name Elizabeth.  After high school she studied at Columbia University and later enrolled at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
 
Her career as an entertainer first began working in vaudeville before she began finding work as a stage actress. She first appeared on Broadway in 1925 in a production of, "The Poor Nut" and had a very successful stage career from that point on.
 
During World War II she also traveled with the USO and would entertain troops in the Pacific.  She then began to attempt working in the film industry and first appeared on screen in 1951 in, "The Day the Earth Stood Still". 
 
Along with a successful film career she appeared on such television series as, "It's a Great Life" (1954), "The Eve Arden Show" (1957), "The Thin Man" (1959), "Wagon Train" (1959), "77 Sunset Strip" (1959), "Rawhide" (1960), "The Andy Griffith Show" (1960-1968) as Aunt Bee and "Mayberry R.F.D" (1968-1970) for which she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Comedy Actress.
 
Her final Broadway appearance was in 1951 in a production of, "Point of No Return" which ran for three hundred and fifty six performances and her final on screen role was in, "Benji" in 1974.
 
She then retired from acting and decided to leave California and relocated to Siler City, North Carolina.  She never married or had any children of her own.  

December 6th, 1989 she passed away in Siler City, North Carolina after suffering from congestive heart failure due to a heart attack.  Her remains are interred at Oakwood Cemetery in Siler City.   

 
Filmography

1974 Benji
1968-1970 Mayberry R.F.D. 
1960-1968 The Andy Griffith Show 
1967 Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. 
1960 Rawhide
1960 The Danny Thomas Show
1959 Sugarfoot
1959 It Started with a Kiss
1959 77 Sunset Strip 
1959 Wagon Train 
1959 The Thin Man
1959 The Ann Sothern Show
1958 A Nice Little Bank That Should Be Robbed 
1958 Colgate Theatre 
1957-1958 The Eve Arden Show
1957 Perry Mason
1957 G.E. True Theater
1957 Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside Theatre 
1956 Cavalcade of America 
1956 Ethel Barrymore Theater 
1956 The Bad Seed 
1954-1956 Lux Video Theatre 
1954-1956 It's a Great Life
1955 Alfred Hitchcock Presents 
1953-1955 Dragnet 
1955 Damon Runyon Theater
1955 Soldiers of Fortune
1955 The Lone Ranger
1954-1955 Waterfront
1954 The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse 
1953-1954 The Loretta Young Show 
1953-1954 City Detective 
1953 Man in the Attic 
1953 McCoy of Abilene 
1952-1953 Gruen Guild Theater 
1952 The Stooge 
1952 Horizons West 
1952 My Wife's Best Friend 
1952 Racket Squad
1952 Sally and Saint Anne 
1952 Bend of the River 
1951 The Lady Says No
1951 The Day the Earth Stood Still
1951 Girls About Town