George Lindsey was a Alabama-born actor and comedian best known for playing the good-natured if none-too-bright gas station attendant Goober on three television series including "The Andy Griffith Show".

George Smith Lindsey was born in Fairfield, Alabama, the only child of George Ross Lindsey and the former Alice Smith, and grew up in Jasper, Ala. He attended Florence State Teachers College, now the University of North Alabama, where he played quarterback on the football team and acted in campus theatrical productions, and graduated in 1952 with a degree in biology and physical education.

After spending three years in the Air Force he moved to New York, where he studied at the American Theater Wing and performed as a comedian in local nightclubs. In 1962 he appeared on Broadway in the short-lived musical All American, but his acting career did not gain momentum until he and his family moved to Los Angeles, where he was soon appearing on “Gunsmoke,”and "The Twilight Zone", among other shows.

The character of Goober was not to everyone’s taste. Some critics considered Mr. Lindsey’s portrayal of a rural Southerner a demeaning caricature. Mr. Lindsey disagreed.

Source: The New York Times