Never knew two people played "Floyd the Barber" on Andy

[doc03]

Griffith Show until just now. A guy named Walter Baldwin played in one episode in 1961 then he was replaced by
Howard Mc Near.

[mrmpa]

1. Here's his bio & he played Homer's Dad in Best Years of Our Lives.........

Walter Baldwin

Biography

Overview (2)
Date of Birth 2 January 1889, Lima, Ohio, USA
Date of Death 27 January 1977, Santa Monica, California, USA (pneumonia)
Mini Bio (1)

Walter Baldwin was born on January 2, 1889 in Lima, Ohio, USA. He was an actor, known for The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), The Long, Long Trailer (1953) and Interrupted Melody (1955). He died on January 27, 1977 in Santa Monica, California, USA.

Trivia (2)
Was the first actor to play "Floyd the Barber" on The Andy Griffith Show (1960), doing so in only one episode. Thereafter, Floyd was always played by Howard McNear, who fashioned him into one of the show's most memorable characters.


Prolific American small part character actor, often seen wearing rimless spectacles and having few teeth. He had extensive experience on Broadway (1917-37) and acted in films from the mid-1930's. Baldwin invariably played lower middle-class, frequently downtrodden, small town inhabitants or bucolic types. He worked almost exclusively in television after 1956.

[Rhiannon12866]

2. I didn't know that, either.

Though I've watched a lot of repeats of the shows and noticed that the characters are much different between the early versus the later shows. I prefer the ones with Barney, think the show suffered when he left after the initial five years. As for Howard McNear, I read that he was no longer able to stand later on in the show and so now I notice that he's usually sitting in his barber's chair in the later shows...

[Gidney N Cloyd]

3. Once you're aware of Howard McNear's mobility issues you start to note how it's covered up.

Like he'll exit the scene off camera, tight shot on someone saying "bye, Floyd," with the sounds of his footsteps and the door shutting. Or his car will pull up off-camera and he'll already have slid over to the passenger side to deliver his lines.

[Miles Archer]

4. One of my favorite bits from SCTV...

...Floyd goes to "The Godfather" (Guy Caballero) and asks for a "favor"...to break Opie's arm the way he broke Floyd's barber pole.

[A HERETIC I AM]

5. A comedian once said....

That Floyd was the kind of guy who did all the great acid in the 50's.

[ailsagirl]

6. Floyd was pretty funnny

...though if I knew someone like that in real life, I think he'd drive me nuts


Backpfeifengesicht!!!