MOUNT AIRY, N.C. (AP) — Betty Lynn, who was best known as Barney Fife's sweetheart Thelma Lou on “The Andy Griffith Show,” has died at the age of 95.
The Andy Griffith Museum said in a statement that she died Saturday after a “brief illness.”
Lynn appeared on the popular TV show from 1961 until 1966. She also appeared in several films, including “Mother Is a Freshman,” “Father Was a Fullback,” “Cheaper by the Dozen,” “Payment on Demand,” and “June Bride.”
Later, she was a mainstay at the annual Mayberry Days festival in Mount Airy, North Carolina, where she resided in her later years.
Lynn provided entertainment as a part of the USO during World War II. She moved to New York in the late 1940s and began an acting career in film and television.
She is survived by several cousins.
Director Ron Howard, who became a star as Opie on the “The Andy Griffith Show,” paid his respects to Lynn on Twitter on Sunday.
“RIP Betty Lynn. She played Thelma Lou on #TAGS & brightened every scene she was in & every shooting day she was on set. I saw her last a few years ago where she still lit up the room with her positivity. It was great to have known and worked with her. She truly was 95yrs young,” he wrote.
