# Goober's gone \[George Lindsay dies at 76\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 6, 2012, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goobers-gone-george-lindsay-dies-at-76/621077 "2012-05-06T17:38:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goobers-gone-george-lindsay-dies-at-76/621077/21 "2012-05-07T11:56:53Z")
> [@wedgehed](#): > > I seem to recall seeing George Lindsay (in a pre-Goober role) playing an outlaw on Gunsmoke. It was interesting to see him playing a different kind of character. I’m a big Gunsmoke fan and just read that in an article about him. Supposedly he shot Matt Dillon. Now I want to look for it. ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goobers-gone-george-lindsay-dies-at-76/621077/22 "2012-05-07T11:59:23Z")
One thing I always appreciated about Mt Lindsey is how happily and gratefully he seemed to embrace Goober. Some actors get very frustrated and bitter about typecasting or a role they can’t escape from. He seemed to be happy and grateful that his character was popular and it afforded him a good living long after the show was off thew air. That strikes me as a centered person. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goobers-gone-george-lindsay-dies-at-76/621077/23 "2012-05-07T12:57:45Z")
My dad, in his retirement, started doing volunteer work with handicapped kids. Apparently Mr. Lindsey did the same and they met once at some event. Mom still has the picture of them together in the living room. Sounded like a cool guy and I know he was someone my dad respected for his non-acting work. RIP Goober. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goobers-gone-george-lindsay-dies-at-76/621077/24 "2012-05-07T13:17:15Z")
Just a nitpick to whoever changed the thread title. It’s [Lindsey](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0512357/), not Lindsay. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goobers-gone-george-lindsay-dies-at-76/621077/25 "2012-05-07T13:23:43Z")
> [@wedgehed](#): > > I seem to recall seeing George Lindsay (in a pre-Goober role) playing an outlaw on Gunsmoke. It was interesting to see him playing a different kind of character. > [@cosmosdan](#): > > I’m a big Gunsmoke fan and just read that in an article about him. Supposedly he shot Matt Dillon. Now I want to look for it. he was in 6 episodes Pa Hack’s Brood (28 December 1963) - Orville Hung High (14 November 1964) - Bud Two Tall Men (8 May 1965) - Billy Which Dr. (19 March 1966) - Skeeter Mad Dog (14 January 1967) - Pinto Watson Blind Man’s Buff (21 February 1972) - Charlie Clavin ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goobers-gone-george-lindsay-dies-at-76/621077/26 "2012-05-07T13:29:21Z")
Never mind - beaten to the punch in post 19. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goobers-gone-george-lindsay-dies-at-76/621077/27 "2012-05-07T13:50:03Z")
He played a fairly serious guy in an episode of [The Twilight Zone](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0734577/). I still remember it well. [IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0512357/bio) lists his birthday as 17 December 1935. Was UNA back then a real college? E.g., both my grandfathers graduated from “colleges” that at the time were vocational schools that served as high school substitutes. From his bio page: “TV Land’s Star Trek marathon November 17th, 2006, had comments by the actors. Leonard Nimoy’s stunner was that Gene Roddenberry’s first choice to play Spock was George Lindsey. He turned the part down and the rest is history.” You’re welcome for _that_ image. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goobers-gone-george-lindsay-dies-at-76/621077/28 "2012-05-07T14:55:40Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > He played a fairly serious guy in an episode of [The Twilight Zone](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0734577/). I still remember it well. Yes! That was creepy. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goobers-gone-george-lindsay-dies-at-76/621077/29 "2012-05-07T15:03:32Z")
> [@cosmosdan](#): > > One thing I always appreciated about Mt Lindsey is how happily and gratefully he seemed to embrace Goober. Some actors get very frustrated and bitter about typecasting or a role they can’t escape from. He seemed to be happy and grateful that his character was popular and it afforded him a good living long after the show was off thew air. Yeah, Lindsey was a better actor than he gets credit for, but he also knew the value of getting a steady paycheck. The last time I saw him was on one of “Larry the Cable Guy’s” Christmas specials. I thought then, “Man, he doesn’t look too good.” ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goobers-gone-george-lindsay-dies-at-76/621077/30 "2012-05-07T15:44:31Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > He played a fairly serious guy in an episode of [The Twilight Zone](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0734577/). I still remember it well. > > [IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0512357/bio) lists his birthday as 17 December 1935. Was UNA back then a real college? E.g., both my grandfathers graduated from “colleges” that at the time were vocational schools that served as high school substitutes. UNA was Florence State College when Lindsey was there. It was founded as a teacher’s college. It went through a couple of other name changes before becoming University of North Alabama in 1974. ---
**Author:** ![Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Backwater_Under_Duck)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goobers-gone-george-lindsay-dies-at-76/621077/31 "2012-05-07T16:53:16Z")
[Here is a terrific clip](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBPBWLmF-W8), from Hee Haw, I think. He’s singing with Johnny and June Carter Cash backing up Joe South on “Don’t It Make You Want To Go Home”. Very sentimental and nice. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goobers-gone-george-lindsay-dies-at-76/621077/32 "2012-05-07T19:13:47Z")
> [@cosmosdan](#): > > One thing I always appreciated about Mt Lindsey is how happily and gratefully he seemed to embrace Goober. Some actors get very frustrated and bitter about typecasting or a role they can’t escape from. He seemed to be happy and grateful that his character was popular and it afforded him a good living long after the show was off thew air. > That strikes me as a centered person. I used to go to his Celebrity Golf Tournaments in Montgomery, AL. (They were for the benefit of local retarded citizens- some great memories of working for those.) Part of that was a sort of meet-and-greet that Lindsey hosted and he also read the same poem into the mike and it always worked each time; it was called WHAT MAYBERRY MEANS TO ME and it’s a rambling, somewhat syrupy poem about how Mayberry represents a simpler time and a kinder place and an ideal we should all strive for and apple pie and Aunt Bea and values and laughs and blah blah blah, and then it ends with the lines > [@](#): > > Mayberry is what scratches my soul > when it gets that very special itch > But the think that I like about Mayberry, most of all, > IT MADE OL’ GOOBER RICH! I always appreciated both the “let’s get real” humor and the honesty of that joke. RIP, George and Goob. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goobers-gone-george-lindsay-dies-at-76/621077/33 "2012-05-07T19:58:16Z")
That’s probably from the Johnny Cash show. They would have been dressed in bib overalls for Hee Haw. 😉 Hee Haw never used contemporary 60’s sets like that. It is a very good clip. > [@Backwater\_Under\_Duck](#): > > [Here is a terrific clip](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBPBWLmF-W8), from Hee Haw, I think. He’s singing with Johnny and June Carter Cash backing up Joe South on “Don’t It Make You Want To Go Home”. Very sentimental and nice. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goobers-gone-george-lindsay-dies-at-76/621077/34 "2012-05-07T20:29:03Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > I met him several years ago when I shot an interview with him at his house in Nashville. His house had white carpet in it and he made you take your shoes off when you came in. We had lunch with him afterwards. He was pretty nice to us and had some great stories. Was it a nice house? In addition to his “made ol’ Goober rich” line, I would assume he had a tidy bit socked away due to working non-stop as Goober for almost 30 years, personal appearances, endorsements (if you’re outside of the Deep South you may not know that he appeared on quite a few regional commercials- Liberty Overalls, Ace Hardware, Glidden Paints, and a few others- usually in his Goober cap- though I haven’t seen him on one in many years), plus he left Hollywood, and while Nashville is a relatively large city it’s not as expensive to live in as L.A.. The main thing that would have hurt him probably was his divorce from his wife of forever back in the '90s. His divorce (1991 per wikipedia) was actually much covered in the tabloids for a D-list “way outside of Hollywood” celebrity. Per the tabloid reports, after their kids were grown & gone, his wife went through a major New Age phase (channeling, reincarnation “therapy”, crystals, etc.) and started opening their home to some weird New Age types in Nashville and George just couldn’t take it. I’m all about supporting your partner, but I can see his point on that as well; your home is sacrosanct and you don’t want it to be seen as a ‘second home’ to a bunch of freeloaders (not saying all New Agers are freeloaders, but all groups have a freeloading element) plus a lot of that stuff is just really hard to listen to anybody talk about while keeping a straight face. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2012, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goobers-gone-george-lindsay-dies-at-76/621077/35 "2012-05-07T21:45:16Z")
His house wasn’t really that big or lavish at all. I was actually kind of surprised that it wasn’t bigger. Maybe the ex-wife ended up with the big house. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2012, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goobers-gone-george-lindsay-dies-at-76/621077/36 "2012-05-08T13:53:35Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > . . . usually in his Goober cap- though I haven’t seen him on one in many years). . . . I think he did wear it at the end of the “Larry the Cable Guy” special (2009). Looking at his filmography, that might have been his last public appearance. ---
**Author:** ![ExcitedIdiot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ea5d25/32.png) [@ExcitedIdiot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExcitedIdiot)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2012, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goobers-gone-george-lindsay-dies-at-76/621077/37 "2012-05-10T11:12:51Z")
Goober on Newsradio. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2012, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goobers-gone-george-lindsay-dies-at-76/621077/38 "2012-05-12T23:59:43Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Goober once appeared on News Radio to prove that the skull Jimmy James bought was not his. I actually came in here to ask (hopefully not too distastefully) if that means Mr. James now finally gets what he paid for. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goobers-gone-george-lindsay-dies-at-76/621077/39 "2012-05-13T00:13:14Z")
## Anyone remember the MASH episode where he played a visiting army surgeon (Roy DuPree) who was temporarily assigned to the 4077th while Hawkeye was away? “Soo-Wee Pigs” ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goobers-gone-george-lindsay-dies-at-76/621077/40 "2012-05-13T00:18:49Z")
Guess Wally’s going to have to find someone else to mind the gas station. RIP, George. ☹ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goobers-gone-george-lindsay-dies-at-76/621077.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goobers-gone-george-lindsay-dies-at-76/621077.md?page=3)