Opie's Mother/ Brother
Opie's mother is mentioned only once in the series. In "Wedding Bells for Aunt Bee", Andy tells Opie he had a love for the boy's mother similar to the love Aunt Bee feels for her beau. Other than this one mention, Opie's mother is non-existent on the show. There are no photographs of her in the house, or other souvenirs, and no one mentions a grave. She apparently has no relatives in Mayberry such as parents or siblings as Opie never mentions grandparents or aunts and uncles except those on his paternal side. In the backdoor pilot episode from The Danny Thomas Show, viewers learn Andy lost Opie's mother when the boy was "the least little speck of a baby." On a "Mayberry RFD" episode, viewer's learn that Opie's former teacher and stepmom Helen gave birth to Andy Taylor Jr, who is Christened in Mayberry.
Read more about this topic: Opie Taylor
Famous quotes containing the words mother and/or brother:
“Softly, in the dusk, a woman is singing to me;
Taking me back down the vista of years, till I see
A child sitting under the piano, in the boom of the tingling strings
And pressing the small, poised feet of a mother who smiles as she
sings.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)
“Before I knew that I was Jewish or a girl I knew that I was a member of the working class. At a time when I had not yet grasped the significance of the fact that in my house English was a second language, or that I wore dresses while my brother wore pants, I knew—and I knew it was important to know—that Papa worked hard all day long.”
—Vivian Gornick (b. 1935)