Rance Howard, George Lindsey talk acting

Greg Richter | By Greg Richter |
on March 06, 2009 at 3:29 PM, updated March 27, 2009 at 6:47 AM
Rance Howard
Calling it "almost orgasmic" when he feels he has actually inherited a character, actor Rance Howard told the audience at the Lindsey UNA Film Festival today there's nothing else he'd rather do.

After such a moving experience, "you go to lunch and hope, when you come back, he's still with you," Howard said.

The longtime character actor also wrote scripts, getting his start with "The Flintstones," followed by "The Andy Griffith Show" in which his son, Ron, played Opie.

He co-wrote "Grand Theft Auto" with Ron to help him get into directing. "Wrote it so Ron could direct action without having to be in it. Ron spent most scenes in a car being chased and Rance directed the parts with him in car.

Lindsey and Howard first met in 1957 doing a live Kraft Theater episode.

"We didn't have any lines," Lindsey quipped.

"But we did a lot of fast changes," Howard said.

Howard revealed that Griffith's character was originally supposed to be named Andy Hopper rather than Andy Taylor. But when director Sheldon Leonard asked him during rehearsal how he liked the name, Griffith responded: "I'll tell you, Sheldon, it don't just plumb tear me up."

Rance Howard and George Linsdey talk with fans
Asked about being typecast, often as a minister, Howard said, "George, they don't cast against type, do they?"

"I'm not the one to ask about that," said Lindsey, who played Goober Pyle for several seasons of "The Andy Griffith Show" and "Mayberry RFD" before moving in basically the same role on "Hee Haw" for more than two decades.

"I've made a good living being typecast. If you're working, do the job. Take the part. If you're not acting, your not acting."