Betty Lynn

At 98 years old, Betty Lynn has this physical status:

Elizabeth Ann Theresa "Betty" Lynn (born August 29, 1926) is a retired American actress.

She is best known for her role as Thelma Lou, Deputy Barney Fife's girlfriend, on The Andy Griffith Show.

During the 1940s and 1950s, she appeared in many films, including Sitting Pretty (1948), June Bride (1948), the original Cheaper by the Dozen (1950) and Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956).

Early life

Born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1926, Betty Lynn was the only child of Elizabeth Ann (née Lynn) and George A. Dailey. Her father was a civil engineer, who worked initially as a municipal employee for Kansas City and later as a private contractor. Her mother, described as "an accomplished mezzo-soprano", taught Betty in her early childhood to sing and enrolled her in the Kansas City Conservatory of Music when she was only five years old. Prior to that, according to federal census records, her parents had separated and divorced before April 1930. Their marriage is reported to have been a tumultuous one, with allegations that her father once threatened to shoot her mother in the abdomen when she was pregnant, and that after Betty's birth, he made additional threats that forced her mother on one occasion to hide in a locked closet to protect herself and her baby.

Following her mother's breakup with Dailey, young Betty had little personal contact with her father. She went with her mother to live with her mother's parents, Josie (née Hill) and George Andrew Lynn, who also resided in Kansas City. Betty's grandfather, a railroad engineer, effectively served as her father figure from then on, until his death in Sacramento, California in 1959.

Personal life

In 1950 in Los Angeles, Lynn bought a house, where her mother and grandparents moved in and lived with her for years. She thus assumed the off-screen roles of breadwinner and caretaker.

Lynn never married, although she stated she was once engaged. By July 2019, she was residing in Mount Airy and continued to make monthly personal appearances in town at the Andy Griffith Museum, signing autographs and meeting with her fans. Lynn once commented, "The longer I live here, the more I see things [Griffith] took from his hometown."

A devout Roman Catholic, Lynn regularly attended St. Timothy's Catholic Church in Los Angeles, and after her move to Mount Airy, she joined the local Holy Angels Catholic Church.

Lynn, at age 95, died after a brief illness in October 2021. At the time of her death, she was working on her autobiography, which is set to be released posthumously. In response to her death, Ron Howard of The Andy Griffith Show wrote about Lynn's cheerful personality both on set as well as away from the cameras:

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Acting career

Betty Lynn began her career in radio as a participant in a daytime drama on a Kansas City station.

She appeared on Broadway in Walk with Music (1940) Oklahoma. (1943) and Park Avenue (1946). Darryl F. Zanuck discovered her in a Broadway production and then signed to 20th Century Fox. Lynn's new hire allowed the studio to drop her at six-month intervals, sparking recurring questions about her. "I was a redhead with freckles and didn't have a bosom," she explained. "I prayed so hard that they'd keep picking me up."

Lynn made her film debut in Sitting Pretty, which received a Photoplay Gold Medal. Bette Davis appeared in June Bride (1949), Mother Is a Freshman (1950), and Payment by Demand (1951), among other things.

Lynn took over Patricia Kirkland's role as Betty Blake in the CBS comedy The Egg and I (1951-1952), and she appeared in Love That Jill (1958). 631 During this period, she became a neighbor of a young Mark Evanier, who, according to her, became a close friend.

In the ABC Western Texas John Slaughter (1958-1992), she was Viola Slaughter (1958–1962). 9864 Lynn was cast as June Wallace, the sister-in-law of the Ray Bolger character on the ABC sitcom Where's Raymond?

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Lynn was born into the role of Thelma Lou on The Andy Griffith Show after guest-starring on various television shows, including Schlitz Playhouse of Stars, The Gale Storm Show, Sugarfoot, and Markham. Despite playing the role for five years (1961-1966), she appeared in just 26 episodes and was never committed to the show (in part because she was still under contract for Texas John Slaughter). "I didn't want to leave Thelma Lou," she explained. I adored her so much. I loved her. She was sweet and generous, she was so fun to play, and Don Knotts was so sweet. Lynn appeared in 1985 for a Mayberry Reunion Show on NBC-TV, where her character Thelma Lou married sweetheart Barney Fife. Lynn continued to appear in various television and film roles after the completion of The Andy Griffith Show.

Lynn retired from acting and relocated to Mount Airy, North Carolina, the home town of Andy Griffith and the town on which Mayberry is based, despite Griffith's assertions to the contrary.

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