The beloved television star, who was best known for playing Don Knotts' onscreen girlfriend, has passed away at the age of 95 following a short battle with an illness.
- October 18, 2021
AceShowbiz - "The Andy Griffith Show" star Betty Lynn has died, aged 95.
The TV treasure, who played Thelma Lou - the girlfriend of Don Knotts' character Barney Fife, on the beloved show, passed away on Saturday (16Oct21) following a short illness, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Lynn also appeared in the films "June Bride" and "Cheaper by the Dozen" as a contract player at 20th Century Fox.
She also played the wife of Tom Tryon's title character on "Texas John Slaughter".
She appeared in over 25 episodes of "The Andy Griffith Show" after joining the cast in 1961, and reprised her TV character for a 1966 episode, in which Fife attends a reunion hoping to meet up with Thelma Lou, only to discover she is married.
The couple eventually found each other in the 1986 TV movie "Return to Mayberry", following Thelma Lou's divorce.
Lynn reunited with Griffith for a handful of first-season episodes of "Matlock" in 1986. She played his character's secretary.
The actress kicked off her career onstage in Chicago, Illinois before becoming a USO star who performed for U.S. troops stationed in China, Burma, and India.
She made her movie debut in the 1948 comedy "Sitting Pretty", opposite Robert Young, Maureen O'Hara, and Clifton Webb.
Her TV credits also included "Where's Raymond?", "Wagon Train", "Lawman", "Family Affair", "My Three Sons", "Mod Squad", "Little House on the Prairie", "Police Story", and "Barnaby Jones".
