She even lied about why she didn’t appear at the reunion.
The cherished characters and the made-up town of Mayberry were left in viewers’ hearts after “The Andy Griffith Show” ended in 1968. But twenty years later, a reunion TV movie spinoff titled “Return to Mayberry” gave fans a chance to re-visit the prominent location and meet up with many original cast members, including Andy Griffith, Don Knotts, and Jim Nabors.
However, one prominent actress, France Bavier, who portrayed Aunt Bee, didn’t make it to the cut. The reason for her refusal to appear in the movie was a single word in the dialogue that she refused to say.
Bavier’s absence was said to be because of an illness, but the real reason is that she is not interested in attending the reunion. In fact, the actress had a chance to record a few lines for the film, but she turned it down when she saw that one of the dialogue’s terms was “underwear.”
“I will not say ‘underwear.’ I have never said ‘underwear,’ and I will not say ‘underwear’ now,” she emphasized then. Her statement is also written in the “Andy and Don: The Making of a Friendship and a Classic American TV Show” book published in 2016.
The scene where she was supposed to say the word “underwear” was in her scene with Andy, reminding him to wear clean underwear. Janet Waldo later took up the part; she is best remembered for portraying Judy Jetson on “The Jetsons” and had previously appeared on “The Andy Griffith Show.”
Despite Bavier’s absence, the film was nonetheless a hit overall and ended up being the most-watched television movie of 1986. Even though one of their favorite characters wasn’t present, the reunion gave fans a chance to visit the fictitious town of Mayberry and provide nostalgia.
Although it doesn’t appear that her absence had an unfavorable impact on the movie’s popularity, it does make one wonder whether Bavier’s participation would have made the reunion feel more complete.