| Summary: | George Smith Lindsey attended Florence State Teachers College (now present day University of North Alabama) during the late 1940s. At Florence State Lindsey excelled both on the football field and in the theatre. One of the theatrical plays in which Lindsey performed was Oklahoma!. After graduating in 1952, Lindsey attended the prestigious New York theatre school—the American Theatre Wing—in the late 1950s. Shortly thereafter, in 1962 he signed a contract with the William Morris Agency and got roles on numerous television shows such as “Twilight Zone” and “The Alfred Hitchock Hour.” Following these minor roles, he earned the infamous role as Goober Pyle on “The Andy Griffith Show” for five years during the 1960s. After the cancellation of “The Andy Griffith Show,” Lindsey caused many Americans to laugh with his comedy sketches on the show “Hee Haw” for nearly twenty-years.
In order to promote the art of theatre and to highlight talented individuals, George Smith Lindsey along with deceased UNA Communications and Theatre established the competitive George Lindsey Film Festival in 1998. For the past eighteen years, the University of North Alabama has hosted the film festival in the Spring. In March of 2015, the University of North Alabama (UNA) hosted the eighteenth Annual George Lindsey UNA Film Festival. Over three thousand local, national, and international entries were submitted at the 2015 festival, at which only one hundred were chosen to be screened. Awards are given to the first place winner in each category, and a special award is given to the best film made in the state of Alabama. Overall, according to Lindsey the festival strives to “take the energy that is in Hollywood and bring it to north Alabama.”
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