This is supposedly a picture of young Aunt Bee on Andy's wall — but is it?

Could this Mayberry artwork be a piece of Frances Bavier's past?

One of the benefits of HD television is seeing familiar favorites in a new level of detail. It's like how you might have played Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band dozens of times, but then you listen to it with quality headphones and notice the champagne cork popping after Paul McCartney sings "over dinner" in the second verse of "Lovely Rita." Huh, you realize. Never heard that before!

Considering the many quirky characters in Mayberry and rubbery facial expressions of Don Knotts, you are forgiven if you have not paid close attention to the walls in The Andy Griffith Show. The plot and humor distract you from simply staring at the background.

But there are some fascinating pieces of art hanging on the walls of Sheriff Taylor's home and office. Jean-François Millet's The Angelus perches above the fireplace. Woodrow Wilson portraits and upside-down maps of Idaho and Nevada decorate the walls of the jailhouse.

And then there is the curious case of the young girl in the Taylor living room. It appears to be a portrait of a child dating back to the turn of the century. The young blonde rests her elbows, clutching her hands as she stares off to the right.

This portrait makes its first appearance in the very first episode, "The New Housekeeper." It hangs between the front door and the entrance to the kitchen. You can spot it as Andy ushers the newly arrives Aunt Bee into the kitchen.

Here is where it gets interesting. According to The Definitive Andy Griffith Show Reference: Episode-by-Episode, with Cast and Production Biographies and a Guide to Collectibles, a researched book written by Dale Robinson and David Fernandes, this figure in this picture is none other than Frances Bavier, the actress who played Aunt Bee.

"A publicity picture of Frances Bavier (Aunt Bee) in her younger days can be seen hanging on the wall in the Taylors' home," Robinson and Fernandes declare in their notes for "The New Housekeeper." 

The picture pops up in four subsequent episodes, all of them early in the series, including "A Feud Is a Feud," "Andy the Marriage Counselor," "Andy and Opie, Housekeepers," and "Aunt Bee's Brief Encounter."

That final appearance gives us the best look at the art, as it peers over the shoulder of Henry Wheeler (Edgar Buchanan of Petticoat Junction fame). Take a look.

Now, considering Robinson and Fernandes' claim that this image is a "publicity picture of Frances Bavier in her younger days," it is important to give a little back story on her career.

Bavier began her acting career on the stage in the 1930s, appearing on Broadway in shows such as Black Pit and Mother. The Manhattan native also made her screen debut with a tiny uncredited role in the New York City filmed comedy Girls About Town (1931). She is one of the many women in the auction scene. 

And here, already, Bavier's early career is shrouded in mystery and myth. Even the people on YouTube trying to point her out in Girls About Town can not settle on which character is actually the future Aunt Bee.

There is also an urban legend circulating on the internet that falsely identifies Gloria DeHaven as Bavier in her "pinup" days.

With such misinformation floating about, could it be possible that this factoid about the framed picture, too, is incorrect? 

The Definitely Andy Griffith Show Reference was published in the mid-1990s, before the advent of HDTV. Now that the art can be seen in crisp digital clarity, do you believe this is a young Bavier?

The girl in the photo appears to be just that — a young girl. Perhaps not even a teenager. Considering Bavier, born in 1902, did not graduate the American Academy of Dramatic Arts until 1925, how likely is it that this is a "publicity photo"?

One thing is for certain when it comes to pictures of Aunt Bee in the Taylor home. Both Opie and Andy rather oddly keep the same photo of Aunt Bee on their dressers in their bedrooms. Did you ever notice that?

We'd love to believe the portrait in the living room is Bavier. What a wonderful easter egg that would be. But we're swallowing this easter egg with a dash of salt.

What do you think? Is this a young Frances Bavier? 

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49 Comments

JohnnyWalker 3 days ago
I'd be interested in buying that book "The Definitive....." but now I have a level of distrust seeing as they got that factoid wrong. Saying it's the "definitive" story is a big claim.
HerbieUnderwood 27 months ago
Jean-Baptiste Greuze painted that Photo girl with an apple google it & andy & barney were cousins Knotts took the role of Barney Fife, the deputy—and originally cousin—of Sheriff Andy Taylor (portrayed by Griffith). Google that as well:)
JHP 29 months ago
was she holding a Mason jar full of kerosene cucumbers?
1969jimg1969 45 months ago
Just watched an episode of Carol Burnett from 1/1/67 and in one scene they are in a dressing room and there is a picture of Aunt bee on the wall behind them
TrishaM55 49 months ago
Very cool. Never noticed the pictures of Francis Bravia. She was a great actor.
BrendaGast 49 months ago
I must be impossibly un-observant, because, although I’ve seen every episode conservatively 75 times each, I’ve never noticed that portrait
gh7qd 49 months ago
Now could someone please identify the painting on the wall of Klink's private quarters on Hogan's Heroes? It's there for nearly every episode that features that set. It looks like someone rolling a barrel out a door, but I'm sure that's not it. It is to the right of the door to the (sometimes) bedroom when we are look towards to couch. (Why stop having fun with just one TV show's paintings??)
MikefromJersey 49 months ago
Ed Asner hung a photo of himself when he was a High School football player on the wall of "Lou Grant's" office all thru the run of the Mary Tyler Moore Show. When he earlier appeared on The Fugitive
the same photo is on the wall of his crummy apartment. Sometimes I worry that I have too much
time on my hands, to notice this sort of thing.
Ric1949 49 months ago
Something not mentioned that should be acknowledged and clarified: when Don Knotts becomes Mayberry's deputy, both he and Andy refer to each other as "cousin." I believe that reference was repeated in some of the earliest episodes, then was dropped without explanation.

We need to investigate the actual background of Andy Taylor and Barney Fife! If there was a genuine familial connection, that means Aunt Bee and Opie were also related to "Barn" by blood.
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denny TvandMovieLover 37 months ago
Gomer and Goober referred to her as Aunt Bea.
JHP Tstuts 29 months ago
considered how dumb they all were - I'd say so - remember to prove my point - Virgil was a cousin also
JHP denny 29 months ago
is that Goober Pyle or Goober Beasley?
JHP Ric1949 29 months ago
Let me clear this all up - BAR-nay was kin to Nathan Tibbs :)
Pacificsun 49 months ago
I read through all the comments first, so now I'm a bit biased, and Joel solved the mystery anyway. But you will find few literally personal effects among props in recurring shows. One reason is value, nobody wants to lose their stuff. And two, because actors value their privacy and work hard to separate themselves from the characters they portray. It's difficult spending the amount of time they do, being involved with the production. Making for little incentive to cross over their personal lives into imaginary stories.

Creative Post however, thanks MeTV Staff!
PaulKellogg 49 months ago
Never watched Andy Griffith. Not into it.
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MikefromJersey JHP 29 months ago
That's right, I always got a kick when I was a kid when the Hornet raced by the courthouse on
the darkened streets of a dystopian Mayberry.
JHP MikefromJersey 29 months ago
Love the Green Hornet show - was born in '59 so do the math

and Wende Wagner - YUMMMMMO!
JHP MikefromJersey 29 months ago
maybe aunt bee was jaywalking too! :)
Nala92129 PaulKellogg 14 months ago
Shocked! TAGS was/is an American institution. It's part of our culture.
booster 49 months ago
A few years ago, someone sent me an e-mail of a girl dressed in a bathing suit, that was selling a motor oil product. It was supposed to be for the oil companies calendar. It wasn't the picture of Gloria DeHaven that has been proven not to be Frances Bavier. This girl had dark hair, and was standing. I tried to verify whether that was actually her, or a hoax, but could not find anything proving or disproving the photo was really her.
JosephScarbrough 49 months ago
As far as the headphones note goes, I actually do own a pair of studio-quality headphones that luckily didn't cost a fortune (back when Sentry manufactured studio headphones for the consumer market), and I have to say, I LOVE hearing tiny little details that you otherwise miss - the "plunking" sounds when a keys on a piano are being pressed, the puffs of breath inbetween notes being played into woodwind instruments, the creaking of musicians' chairs, the overall studio ambience; it's amazing.
Joel 49 months ago
The painting is "A Child with an Apple" by Jean-Baptiste Greuze. It hangs in the National Gallery, London, UK. https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/jean-baptiste-greuze-a-child-with-an-apple
RickBox Joel 49 months ago
You win.
spence2054 Joel 49 months ago
Wow, Joel, I'm impressed. No doubt it is the painting.
Gregory Joel 49 months ago
You win the internet today.
MarkGable Joel 49 months ago
Well done Joel!
JohnBlair Joel 49 months ago
Yes Joel and Thank you! I was going to say that is a known painting, give me a sec and I'LL tell ya'LL. You are obviously a GREAT art historian; among the Mist of MeTV viewers! The wife and me were in the National Gallery, London, UK. several times in 2014, and I'm sure that is why I knew it was ART. Best place to eat near the National Gallery, London, UK.? The Café in the Crypt!!!
All profits support the work of St Martin-in-the-Fields. https://www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org/visit/cafe-in-the-crypt/
Semper fi
John
Tstuts Joel 49 months ago
Thanks Joel and way to go...!
ttk Joel 44 months ago
Good job! I knew it was a painting...but couldn't identify it. Brilliant!
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