Restrictions to Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the Frances Bavier Papers #4598, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Transferred from the University of North Carolina Center for Public Television in December 1991.

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

• Actresses--United States--History--20th century.
• Andy Griffith show (Television program).
• Bavier, Frances, 1905-
• Fan mail.
• Siler City (N.C.)--History.
• Television actors and actresses--United States--History--20th century.
• Television personalities--United States--History--20th century.

Frances Bavier was born in New York City. There is disagreement on whether she was born in 1902 or 1905. She had planned to be a teacher, but was influenced by a friend to try her hand at theater instead. Upon graduating from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1925, she acted in the stage farce The Poor Nut. She later played the grandmother in the original Broadway production of On Borrowed Time. During World War II, she traveled with the USO to entertain the troops in the Pacific. Her last appearance on Broadway was in Point of No Return (1951) with Henry Fonda. Arriving in Hollywood in 1950, she appeared in such films as The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) and The Stooge (1952). On the small screen, she found regular work in sitcoms including It's a Great Life (1956) and The Eve Arden Show (1957). She is most often remembered for her role as Aunt Bee on the The Andy Griffith Show, which ran from 1960 to 1968 and for which she won an Emmy. She remained with the show after Griffith left and the show was renamed Mayberry RFD.

Bavier retired in 1970 and, in 1972, moved to Siler City, N.C., where she lived a somewhat reclusive life. She died on 6 December 1989.

The collection is chiefly fan mail, 1970s-1990, addressed to actress Frances Bavier, most often remembered for her role as Aunt Bee on the The Andy Griffith Show on television. The letters are address to Bavier in Siler City, N.C., where she retired in 1970. Also included are a few acting contracts, address books, clippings, publicity and personal photographs, and other materials mostly relating to her acting career.