Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 6, 1995 TAG: 9504070004
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JIM PATTERSON ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: NASHVILLE, TENN. LENGTH: Medium
Lindsey, who played gas-pumping Goober on ``The Andy Griffith Show,'' and Denver, star of ``Gilligan's Island,'' obviously had some things in common. Both were successful and both were forever typecast, it seemed, as clowns.
But things turned nasty at Denver's home: The new friends began fighting over who was the better actor. Goober vs. Gilligan, to the finish.
Lindsey says he couldn't help but echo Skipper during their fight, sighing an exasperated ``Oh, Gilligan!''
A tendency to scrap - and to drink - permeates much of Lindsey's life as related in his new memoir, ``Goober in a Nutshell.''
Lindsey, Griffith and other cast members partied in distinctly un-Mayberry fashion when the cameras weren't rolling, according to Lindsey.
In the book, he tells of joining Griffith, Jack Dodson (Howard Sprague in the show) and Ken Berry (of ``Mayberry RFD'') in drinking a quart of whiskey apiece, donning aviator caps with goggles and taking a white limo to see country singer Merle Haggard perform.
Haggard, no shrinking violet, allowed the drunken TV stars to jump up on stage and sing with him.
That all ended when he got sober in the early 1980s, says Lindsay. Sitting in a Nashville restaurant, he wears a baseball jacket stating his claim to fame in bold letters on its back: ``Mayberry.''
The man forever known as Goober is eager to tell a few tales and reflect on an acting career that began with classical training and veered onto a dirt road leading to ``The Andy Griffith Show.''
Most actors would be happy with the place in television history guaranteed by that most enduring of sitcoms. But typecasting as a rube takes its toll and it left Lindsey with a chip on his shoulder that took years to knock off.
For years, Lindsey, 66, resisted and resented it. Now he's embraced Goober, but sometimes it still grates.
``Do you still keep in touch with the other people from the show?'' asks a waitress as she clears away the salad plates.
``No, we've all drifted apart over the years,'' Lindsey answers. A slight weariness in his voice betrays the number of times he's been asked that question.
Earlier, he'd given ``The Best of Goober Collection'' to the restaurant manager, even though ``I don't make a dime off them videos.''
``Sometimes I say that Goober killed George Lindsey,'' Lindsey said. ``And I think of all the roles I have in me.
``And other times I think all you have to do is hit it out of the park once.''
``The Andy Griffith Show'' was a home run, airing over 10 years if you count the post-Griffith spinoff ``Mayberry RFD.'' The show's depiction of small-town life and values made it an acknowledged television classic, still running in syndication 30 years later.
``What compares to it?'' Lindsey said. ```Mary Tyler Moore,' `MASH' maybe. I think it's the best show ever.''
A couple of months ago, Lindsey showed up for a surprise appearance on the Grand Ole Opry in full Goober regalia - beanie atop his head, pants hiked up to the sternum, tire gauge and pencils in the shirt-pocket.
He brought the house down and was invited back.
He's also the first Griffith cast member to write a memoir. He turned out ``Goober in a Nutshell'' (Avon Books) with the help of Mayberry fanatics Ken Beck and Jim Clark.
The requisite Mayberry anecdotes are there, as well as behind-the-scenes stories from his other long-running show, ``Hee-Haw.''
The book reveals that Lindsey, a native of Jasper, Ala., is a graduate of the American Theater Wing of New York University. He played the lead role of Putcayasin in a production of Gogol's ``Marriage'' for the class graduation play.
He won guest roles in shows like ``The Twilight Zone'' and ``Gunsmoke'' before joining the Griffith show as a replacement for Jim Nabors, who beat Lindsey out for the role of Gomer Pyle.
Lindsey says cast members ``lived in fear'' of Griffith on the set.
``Most of us were deathly afraid of Andy,'' Lindsey writes in his book. ``We were all scared to make a move. If Andy thought something was funny, then it was funny to us. He literally controlled every aspect of the show.
``So we were always trying to please him, or at least I was.''
by CNB