Biography
Frances Elizabeth Bavier (14 December 1902 – 6 December 1989) was an American stage and television actress. Born in Manhattan, New York, she trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts after studying at Columbia University and began her career in New York theatre and vaudeville before moving into film and television in the 1950s.
She appeared in more than a dozen films, including as Mrs. Barley in The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). On television she played supporting roles in series such as Perry Mason (1957) and Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955). Bavier is best known for portraying Aunt Bee Taylor in The Andy Griffith Show (1960–1968) and its spin-off Mayberry R.F.D. (1968–1970), a role for which she received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Comedy in 1967.
