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Legendary actress, Betty Lynn, who was best known for her portrayal of Thelma Lou on "The Andy Griffith Show" has passed away at the age of 95.
Lynn's character on "The Andy Griffith Show", Thelma Lou, was the girlfriend of Barney Fife, who was portrayed by Don Knotts.
The actress passed away in Mount Airy, North Carolina on Saturday, 10/16. She died after a bout with a brief illness. Lynn was recently living at a retirement home in North Carolina.
Lynn appeared in 26 episodes of "The Andy Griffith Show" from 1961 to 1966. She would ultimately be written out of the series when Don Knott's left the series. She would return to the Andy Griffith Show for the 1986 television film, "Return to Mayberry". Lynn would work alongside Griffith in NBC series, "Matlock" - she appeared in four episodes.
Prior to working on "The Andy Griffith Show", Lynn was a Broadway performer and appeared in a few motion pictures.
Betty Lynn retired from acting in 2006 and moved to Mount Airy, North Carolina.
A few years back, Lynn told the Hollywood Reporter about how her work on TV brought about many issues for her film career. She said:
'The studios hated television. When they asked me what I had been doing, I said, "I’ve been doing live television, it’s absolutely wonderful, it’s like doing a play!"' ... 'They’d all just freeze. I didn’t understand that they were having great difficulty because people were staying home instead of going to the movies. I was making a complete fool of myself.'
A private memorial service will be held in Culver City, while a public memorial service will be planned for a date in the future.
Rest in Peace, Betty Lynn.