Betty Lynn died peacefully on
Saturday after a brief illness, The Andy Griffith Museum in Mount Airy, North
Carolina, announced in a statement
Betty Lynn, the film and
television actress best known for playing Barney Fife’s sweetheart Thelma Lou
on "The Andy Griffith Show," has died. She was 95.
The star died peacefully on
Saturday after a brief illness, The Andy Griffith Museum in Mount Airy, North
Carolina, announced in a statement.
Lynn appeared as Thelma Lou in
the hit series from 1961 until 1966. She reprised her role in "Return to
Mayberry," the made-for-TV movie where she and Fife (Don Knotts) got
married.
Born Elizabeth Ann Theresa Lynn
on Aug. 29, 1926, in Kansas City, Missouri, Lynn began studying dance and
acting at a young age. In 1944, she started performing as a part of USO Camp
Shows.
Lynn took her talents overseas,
performing in the USO for servicemembers during World War II. According to the
museum, she was "thought to be the only American woman to have traveled
the dangerous Burma Road during the war."
She moved to New York in the late
1940s and began acting in film, and later, television. While she had led a
successful decadeslong career as an actress, fans remember her best for her
role in "The Andy Griffith Show
Director and actor Ron Howard,
who played Sheriff Andy Taylor’s son, Opie, paid tribute to Lynn in a tweet on
Sunday stating she "brightened every scene she was in & every shooting
day she was on set."
In her later years, Lynn
participated in reunions with fellow cast members and various Mayberry-themed
festivals. Knotts died in 2006 at age 81.
Lynn moved from Hollywood to
Mount Airy in 2007 following a series of break-ins at her home. She expressed
her love for the city to The Associated Press in 2015.
"I think God’s blessed me," Lynn said at the time. "He brought me to a sweet town, wonderful people, and just said, ‘Now, that’s for you, Betty.’"
The museum shared that Lynn had
been working on an autobiography before her death. The book is now expected to
be released posthumously.
Lynn is survived by several
cousins. A memorial service will take place in Culver City, California. Details are to be released at a later date.