NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Actor George Lindsey was remembered Friday as the grinning Goober who made television viewers laugh for three decades on "The Andy Griffith Show" and "Hee Haw."
A public memorial service drew an estimated 400 people who paid last respects to Lindsey, 83, who died Sunday.
He was the beanie-wearing Goober on "The Andy Griffith Show" from 1964 to 1968 and its successor, "Mayberry RFD," from 1968 to 1971. He played the same jovial character, a mechanic, on "Hee Haw" from 1971 until it went out of production in 1993. Reruns of those shows are still seen on TV.
Actor Ernest Borgnine, Lindsey's close friend, sent a video tribute which was played at an informal gathering before the memorial. In it, Borgnine recalled the pranks they enjoyed playing down through the years. "We loved to outdo each other," Borgnine said. "It was like therapy."
Also shown at the casual gathering in the church's fellowship hall were clips from Lindsey on "Hee Haw."
One of them: "Where was Solomon's temple?" Minnie Pearl asked him.
"Right on the side of his head," Lindsey responded.
