The Eight Boy Friends of Aunt Bee!

Aunt Bee, played by Frances Bavier, had a total of 8 boyfriends through the 8 seasons of The Andy Griffith Show. Here they are:

Season 1 - No Aunt Bee boyfriend episodes in this season.

Season 2 - They make up for the absence of boyfriends in Season 1 by giving Aunt Bee two in this season. In Aunt Bee's Brief Encounter, Aunt Bee falls for a traveling handyman Henry Wheeler and invites him to stay on for more days. But, instead of doing the work, freeloader Wheeler manages to con Andy into doing his work while he is out entertaining Aunt Bee at picnics. When Andy is informed by a neighboring sheriff of the nature of this Wheeler, Andy uses a bit of reverse psychology, coupled with a shotgun, to send the "handy" man on his way. Henry Wheeler is played by the same actor that plays Uncle Joe in Petticoat Junction - very appropriate! In Wedding Bells for Aunt Bee Clara convinces Aunt Bee to marry a man, any man, so that Andy can get on with his life. Bee settles for Fred Goss, the owner of the local dry cleaner. Fred loves to spew cigarette ashes all over the place (including freshly cleaned suits) with the ever-present cig hanging from his mouth. Fred's motto is "It always pays to look your best"! Also Fred loves to spread malicious gossip about every person that drops off clothes for him to clean - he derives clues from the stains (like wine stains) on the clothes and items left in the pockets. Aunt Bee despises Fred but almost marries him anyway, at least til Andy, with a bit of help from Opie, straightens her out. Wedding Bells for Aunt Bee is one of my favorites - it's just plain quirky. My favorite line of Fred's: "No sir, Gravy's no joke"!

Season 3 - Aunt Bee's Medicine Man. A street peddler by the name Colonel Harvey sells Aunt Bee his Indian Elixir (Good for what ails you) and manages to get invited over for dinner as well. The elixir works wonders for Aunt Bee, mostly because it is 90 proof liquor (Note the show mis-states it as 90% alcohol, which would make it 180 proof). Aunt Bee is head over heals over Colonel Harvey until Andy arrests Colonel Harvey and Aunt Bee and her whole church group for moonshine violations while the colonel is demonstrating his product to the group. Love this episode!

Season 4 - In Briscoe Declares For Aunt Bee, hillbilly Briscoe Darling and his boys are invited over for dinner by Andy after they are kicked out of a local diner. Briscoe is so impressed with Aunt Bee's great cooking and the fact that she gave him extra butter for his "taters" that he declares that she will be his wife. Not really a proposal but a hillbilly-style proclamation! When Aunt Bee objects, Briscoe and his boys simply kidnap Aunt Bee. No SWAT team or special rescue needed, just Andy and a bit of reverse psychology to convince Briscoe that Aunt Bee is not the one for him. Hillbillies are so easy to fool!

Season 5 - In Aunt Bee's Romance, an old flame Roger Hanover gets in touch with her and then drops in for a visit. Roger tells endless bad jokes and plays pranks continuously, only to irritate Andy and Opie. Roger announces to Andy that he intends to marry Aunt Bee but could be on his way to Florida instead if only Andy could give him $400. After Andy refuses the blackmail offer, Roger backs down on his proposal and somehow finds the money himself to move on. This is quite the quirky episode and a lot of fun to watch. There was another episode in Season 5 titled Aunt Bee's Invisible Beau where Aunt Bee pretends to have a relationship with the butter and egg man Orville Hendricks (he is married but Aunt Bee does not know it). I don't count this as a boyfriend since he was only pretend - also I did not care all that much for this episode - It was not in the spirit of a true Andy Griffith show.

Season 6 - In Aunt Bee The Swinger, Aunt Bee hooks up with a retired congressman John Canfield. Aunt Bee thinks that the congressman expects a woman to have unlimited energy, so she pretends to be that woman, staying out with John every night til late in the evening, to the point of exhaustion. Aunt Bee does not realize, however, that the poor congressman is getting just as exhausted as she. As usual, Andy straightens this misunderstanding out. This is the first color episode of one of Aunt Bee's beaus, and John is the first respectable man that she has relations with on the show.

Season 7 - In Aunt Bee's Crowning Glory, Aunt Bee buys a wig to impress a visiting bachelor pastor Reverend Leighton who will be accepting a parish in a nearby town. Aunt Bee really feels silly when the pastor does a sermon on being unpretentious. One of the funnier moments is where Floyd, sitting directly behind Bee in church, attempts to pinch off a small sample of the wig as he insists it is made from fine Chinese hair. The wig really makes Bee look like she has big hair!

Season 8 - In Aunt Bee and the Lecturer, a visiting lecturer Hubert St. John falls instantly in love with Bee. But the reason he falls for her is that Bee reminds him of his deceased wife. Bee gets a bit creeped out by this somewhat neurotic attraction he has for her and wants to break this off, yet let him down easy. So Andy comes up with a crafty solution: Have Bee act like a wild and crazy un-Bee-like woman. This sends the professor running. 

In conclusion, I enjoyed all of these episodes due to both their quirkiness and the superb acting of Francis Bavier as she played Bee.

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  • Great summary of Aunt Bee's Beaus over the years...but let me make it perfectly clear that I only sold Aunt Bee 2 bottles of Elixir, and ate dinner at the house just that one time. That was the extent of my involvement with Aunt Bee. No "boyfriend" status. And by the way, my Indian Elixir is STILL only $1.00 a bottle.

    The Col.
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