CityView Magazine

8 | September 2020 R onnie Schell, who was cast as Gomer Pyle's sidekick on the TV hit of the 1960s, says he just adored Elizabeth MacRae, who grew up in Fayetteville and became a television, soap opera and film actress, and Gomer Pyle's television girlfriend. "We picked up right where we le off," Schell says of their telephone conversation of reminiscing. "One of the thrills of my life was reconnecting with Elizabeth." She was Lou-Ann Poovie, Gomer Pyle's girlfriend. He was Duke Slater, Gomer Pyle's sidekick. "I loved playing Lou-Ann Poovie," says Elizabeth MacRae, the retired Fayetteville actress who grew up in this city and found fame with countless television roles throughout the 1960s and 1980s, including "Gunsmoke" with James Arness, "Maverick" with James Garner, "Bonanza" with Lorne Greene and Michael Landon, "e Untouchables" with Robert Stack, 'Gomer Says Hey' Denny Reese is a radio host in Illinois and once editor and publisher of "e Wanderer," a magazine chronicling television classics. His latest publication is "Gomer Says Hey," published by BearManor Media, and available at BearManor Media or Amazon at $22 in paperback and $32 in hardback. And Reese will tell you that Ronnie Schell never has forgotten Elizabeth MacRae. "I have written a book on the Gomer Pyle TV series, which was published by BearManor Media, and doing brisk sales," Reese, 58, says. "I understand one of the two remaining stars from the series, Elizabeth MacRae, is living in Fayetteville, and you did a story on her at the time of Jim Nabors' death in 2017. I am trying to contact her on behalf of Ronnie Schell, who co-starred with her in Gomer Pyle. He is 88-years young and would love to connect with her one more time. If you could be of any help in connecting these two old friends, I would greatly appreciate it." I told Denny Reese that Elizabeth MacRae resides here and not too far from her home place, and still with her Southern drawl and her charming personality. "You have made my day," she would say when learning that Ronnie Schell was reaching out. "I would love to hear from Ronnie. He played 'Duke' on Gomer." One caveat, however. Ronnie Schell would have to call. BILL KIRBY JR. Elizabeth MacRae: 'I loved playing Lou-Ann Poovie' By Bill Kirby Jr. "e Fugitive" with David Janssen, "77 Sunset Strip" with Efrem Zimbalist Jr., "Hawaiian Eye" with Robert Conrad, "Dr. Kildare" with Richard Chamberlain, "Rawhide"with Clint Eastwood, "I Dream of Jeannie" with Barbara Eden and Larry Hagman, "e Andy Griffith Show" with Andy Griffith, Don Knotts and Ronnie Howard and, of course, "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C." with the late Jim Nabors. And not to forget soap opera roles on "Days of Our Lives," "Guiding Light" and "Search for Tomorrow," and a film career to include the 1974 motion picture, "e Conversation," directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Gene Hackman. But it was on the Desilu Studios's Desilu- Cahuenga sound stage and the RKO Forty Acres backlot that Elizabeth MacRae became a television icon as Lou-Ann Poovie, the ditzy girlfriend of Jim Nabors, aka Gomer Pyle. And where Elizabeth MacRae came to know Ronnie Schell, who played Duke Slater, Gomer Pyle's Marine sidekick, who was always running interference from Gomer Pyle's bumbling ways and gaffs that always le Sgt. Vince Carter, played by the late Frank Sutton, in a quandary. "She was so great doing Lou-Ann Poovie," Ronnie Schell says. "I've always loved her. She was down to earth. She was not uppity like some actresses. We did about five Gomers together. I, like Frank Sutton, was always jealous because she was Gomer's girlfriend. She and I got along so well." e comedy series would air from Sept. 25, 1964, to May 2, 1969, when the cast would go its separate ways and into other entertainment ventures, although, Schell will tell you he oen would see MacRae at the annual Mayberry Days, a fan festival each September celebrating "e Andy Griffith Show" in Mount Airy. ere are those who pass your way in life. You never forget them. Lou-Ann Poovie is one of them. Elizabeth MacRae found fame with countless television and film roles throughout the 1960s and 1980s. Elizabeth MacRae loves reliving the nostalgia of yesteryear.

• Cover