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Contiued from page 11
But it was her role on the
“Andy Griffith Show” (1960-
1968) as Aunt Bee’s neighbor
Clara Edwards that people
will forever identify her. Ken
Beck summarized Clara and
Aunt Bee’s relationship, writing
“though they can be keen rivals
(notably in cooking, gardening
and courtship), Clara and Aunt
Bee are the best of friends.
They’ve known each other
since their basketball days at
Sweetbriar Normal School.
Clara’s pickles are without
competition — especially from
Aunt Bee. However, Aunt Bee can
make a run for Clara’s roses. And
sooner or later, every potential
beau knows that both ladies
have a sporting chance at his
affections.”
Many “Andy Griffith Show”
fan clubs name the episode that
aired on Dec. 18, 1961, “The
Pickle Story,” as the funniest
show of the entire series. The
show centered around Clara and
her blue-ribbon winning pickles,
where every jar was a loving
tribute to her dead husband.
Aunt Bee’s pickles were known
to taste like kerosene, and what
Andy, Barney and Opie do to
remedy that is television history.
Hope Summers acted in more
than 32 motion pictures, some
of the more known ones being
Zero Hour!, I Want To Live!, Inherit
the Wind, The Children’s Hour,
Spencer’s Mountain, The Ghost and
Mr. Chicken, The Shakiest Gun in
the West
and
The Learning Tree
.
In 1968, Roman Polanski
cast Hope as the sinister witch
Mrs. Gilmore in his horror film
Rosemary’s Baby.
Audiences were
jolted from the loving image of
Mayberry’s Clara to the skin-
crawling discomfort of Hope’s
devil matron.
Hope’s last movie was
Foul
Play
in 1978 with Chevy Chase
and Goldie Hawn.
She died of heart failure in Los
Angeles on June 22, 1979. Her
legacy of portraying hundreds
of characters leaves one more to
be told, one in which you only
heard Hope Summer’s voice:
From its start in 1961 until her
death in 1979, Hope was the kind
nurturing inviting voice of Mrs.
Butterworth’s Maple Syrup.
The Past
By Dr. Peter J. Couri
12
thePeorian.com
Ken Regan August 1970
“Abraham Lincoln was my
first role model because of his
passionate commitment to
justice. That courage spoke to
me long before I addressed the
problem of injustice toward
women.”
Betty Friedan (1921-2006)
Founder of the Woman’s
Movement and feminist causes
in the 1960s.
Good Housekeeping, July 1986
Yes, They Said That…
Quotes from Famous
Peorians