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Host: Allan Newsome
Running time: 0:16:02
Two Chairs No Waiting
This episode we’re going to celebrate Betty Lynn’s 85th birthday. Why, you may ask? Well, the day I’m recording is August 29, 2011 which just happens to be Betty’s birthday and I though it would be fitting to tell “Thelma Lou” we all said “hey” on this, her special day.
The interview with Betty can be found on YouTube and was done several years ago at Mayberry Days by “Charles.” I don’t know Charles who but hopefully somebody listening to Two Chairs will be able to let us know so I can give proper credit.
Born Elizabeth Ann Theresa Lynn on August 29, 1926 in Kansas City, Missouri, Betty began acting in radio. She was later discovered in a Broadway production and signed to 20th Century Fox. She made her film debut in the 1948 film Sitting Pretty opposite Robert Young. That same year, she appeared in June Bride with Bette Davis followed by roles in Mother Is a Freshman (1949), Cheaper by the Dozen (1950), and Payment on Demand (1951).
In the 1953-1954 television season, Betty was cast as June Wallace, the fictitious sister-in-law of the Ray Bolger character in the ABC sitcom Where’s Raymond?
After guest starring on various television series Betty won the role of Thelma Lou on The Andy Griffith Show. She portrayed the role regularly from 1961 until 1965 and made a final guest appearance in one episode during the sixth season(1965–1966).
Following the end of The Andy Griffith Show, Betty continued appearing in various television and film roles. In 1986, she reprised the role of Thelma Lou in the reunion television movie Return to Mayberry in which Thelma Lou and Barney Fife were finally married. In 2006, Lynn retired from acting and relocated to Mount Airy, North Carolina, the hometown of Andy Griffith and the town on which Mayberry was loosely based.
Betty Lynn currently makes monthly appearances at the Andy Griffith Museum in Mount Airy to sign autographs and meet with her fans.
Follow me on Twitter if you use twitter. I’ve been posting all kinds of Mayberry things there as another way to let folks know about The Andy Griffith Show.
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Related Links:
- Betty Lynn (Thelma Lou) from the Andy Griffith Show (YouTube) – Interview with Betty Lynn best known as Thelma Lou from The Andy Griffith Show. Recorded at “Mayberry Days” in Mount Airy, NC. Produced by Jimmy Wentz.
- Betty Lynn (From Wikipedia) – Much of the show notes came from this article.
- Andy Griffith Museum – The museum opened on September 26, 2009 with an official ribbon cutting during the 20th celebration of Mayberry Days. The items on display have been collected over nearly a lifetime by Emmett Forrest, who grew up in Mount Airy with Andy Griffith.
- Andy Griffith Museum (Follow on Facebook)
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