Bavier’s chosen family loved her just as much as they loved Aunt Bee.
Everyone loved Aunt Bee. That’s a fact. And although many would never want to taste her famous pickle recipe, most would have loved the opportunity to sit down and have dinner with her.
Whether she was making Andy and Barney try her “famous” pickles, making pies and auctioning them off, having flings with the men of Mayberry, or running for city council; Aunt Bee was never boring.
Frances Bavier played the role of Aunt Bee for eight seasons in the hit series The Andy Griffith Show (1968). She was perfect for the part, and in real life, Bavier had just as much love for Aunt Bee as everyone else did.
Her character was warm and good-natured and was a key figure in the lives of Opie, Andy, and Barney. However, their love for each other didn’t stop when the cameras quit rolling. Bavier found a family in real life thanks to Mayberry.
According to a 1961 interview with the Hartford Courant, Bavier said she spent her whole life trying to get adopted — and not in the traditional sense, but by her own chosen family.
“But no one ever adopted me before,” Bavier said. “I started out playing an aunt to a little boy I had not known. And now I feel like a member of the family.”
According to the interview, even off-screen little Ron Howard would address Bavier as Aunt Bee. She had a real role in his life whether she wanted it or not — Howard was falling in love with Aunt Bee just like the rest of the country. It was hard not to.
Bavier said that when Howard celebrated his seventh birthday on the set of the series, the cast and crew surprised him with a jungle gym and swing set — every kid’s dream — and Bavier was the first person he wanted to share his gift with.
“Now mind you, he thanked everyone for the present,” Bavier said. “He’s a very mannerly little boy. But when he got to me, he climbed into my lap and invited me to come over and swing with him. I think he has truly adopted me at last.”
Although Bavier said she didn’t try out the swings— she isn’t the type— she did appreciate how important she was to Howard. She said she would regularly have dinner with Howard and his family.
She added: “They feel like family.”
