Betty Lynn (Thelma Lou) has passed at 95

Barney’s girlfriend, one of the last of the original Andy Griffith Show actors, R.I.P.

Betty Lynn Dead: Barney’s Girlfriend on ‘Andy Griffith Show’ Was 95 – The Hollywood Reporter

 

She never did marry Barney. Too bad.

 

Great life lived.

 

She was perfect for the role! Andy Griffith said she should have been HIS girlfriend! I agree, though Andy had some fine ones himself. I liked Peggy the Best, played by Joanna Moore, and Sue Ann Langdon, and Elinor Donahue.

Thelma Lou must have been independently wealthy because they never said she had any kind of job! Lived on her good looks, I suppose!

 

Yes she did, in the 1986 Return to Mayberry film:


It's nice that she lived out her final years as a local celebrity in Mt. Airy (the town that was the real-life inspiration for Mayberry). From what I've read, she got a lot of attention from fans who made the pilgrimage to visit the town, and she really enjoyed that.

 

It was odd that when Don Knotts left the show, the producer didn’t marry them off, since they also wrote out the Thelma Lou character at the same time. Instead, when Knotts returned the following season for a guest appearance, Thelma Lou (in her last appearance) said that she had married someone else. Kind of a head scratcher.

At least, as the above poster mentioned, they got married in the reunion movie.

 

R.I.P. Betty

 

I guess Ron Howard is the last of the cast.

 

Yes, and no…as far as regulars, when the show was black and white anyway .

Elinor Donahue is still alive and she was a regular for the first season .

 

In one episode she, or someone else mentioned about her going to the office, or similar.
She never had a last name that I can remember though .

 

Thelma Lou was always a favorite of mine. Rest in Peace Betty.

 

As a teenager in the sixties, I always thought she was extremely good looking. And I also
thought she was WAY too attractive to be interested in Barnet Fife.