Los Angeles ( CNN ) -- George Lindsey , the actor who portrayed the country-bumpkin mechanic Goober Pyle on `` The Andy Griffith Show , '' died Sunday after a brief illness , his family said . He was 83 . Lindsey 's funeral is scheduled for Friday afternoon in Nashville . He will be buried in his hometown of Jasper , Alabama , on Saturday , according to the funeral home . Lindsey 's character Goober Pyle joined the hit sitcom in 1964 as the cousin of Gomer Pyle , played by Jim Nabors . When the show ended four seasons later , Lindsey continued as Goober for three years on the sequel series `` Mayberry R.F.D . '' `` George often told me his fondest memories of his life in show business were the years he spent working on 'The Andy Griffith Show ' and 'Mayberry R.F.D . ' `` said Andy Griffith . `` They were for me , too . '' Co-star Ron Howard remembered Lindsey as `` warm , intelligent and lovable , '' in a post on Twitter . `` He generated lots of laughs & raised a lot of money for Special Olympics , '' Howard tweeted . The Fairfield , Alabama , native never escaped the stereotyping that the Goober Pyle role brought him . Lindsey embraced it for another 20 years as a regular on TV 's `` Hee Haw , '' by wearing the familiar hat and clothes of Goober and carried the character on the road for decades of stand-up comedy shows . Lindsey auditioned for the Gomer Pyle role when the show started in 1962 , but he was edged out by Nabors , the family 's obituary said . When he saw that first episode on TV featuring Nabors as Gomer , he kicked his television screen because he was upset for losing the part . `` Not only that , but now I did n't have a TV to watch 'Ben Casey ' on , '' Lindsey wrote in his autobiography . He was finally added to the cast as Goober , eventually taking over the job of running Mayberry 's gas station when Gomer joined the Marines with his own spinoff , `` Gomer Pyle , U.S.M.C . '' Lindsey turned to acting after stints in the U.S. Air Force and as a high school teacher . He studied at the American Theater Wing in New York for two years while working as a comedian in nightclubs and coffeehouses . An agent from the William Morris Agency saw his work and signed him . That representation led to stage roles , including the production of `` All American '' at Broadway 's Winter Garden Theatre . Lindsey moved to Los Angeles , where his work was mostly in Westerns , such as `` The Rifleman '' and `` Gunsmoke . '' He also acted in the `` The Real McCoys , '' `` The Twilight Zone '' and several Disney productions . He was cast in three episodes of `` The Alfred Hitchcock Hour . '' An obituary released by the Nashville funeral home handling Lindsey 's arrangements said the actor often joked about what he wanted written on his tombstone . `` One choice goes for the joke : ' I told you I was sick . ' The other goes for the heart : ' I hope I made you laugh . ' `` Lindsey is survived by his son George Lindsey Jr. , daughter Camden Jo Lindsey Gardner , and two grandsons . People we 've lost in 2012 : The lives they lived .
NEW : George Lindsey 's funeral is set for Friday and burial on Saturday . Lindsey joined the hit sitcom `` The Andy Griffith Show '' in 1964 . Lindsey continued as Goober on the sequel series `` Mayberry R.F.D . '' for three years . He also appeared in a few episodes of'" M*A*S*H, which was based on his own experiences during World War II.