NASHVILLE, Tenn. — George Lindsey, who spent nearly 30 years as the grinning  Goober on "The Andy Griffith Show" and "Hee Haw," has died. He was 83.

A press release from Marshall-Donnelly-Combs Funeral Home in Nashville said  Lindsay died early Sunday morning after a brief illness. Funeral arrangements  were still being made.

Lindsey was the beanie-wearing Goober on "The Andy Griffith Show" from 1964  to 1968 and its successor, "Mayberry RFD," from 1968 to 1971. He played the same  jovial character — a service station attendant — on "Hee Haw" from 1971 until it  went out of production in 1993.