You never met a sweeter, kinder human being than Betty Lynn. The actress best known as Barney Fife's girl friend on The Andy Griffith Show died yesterday in Mt. Airy, North Carolina where she'd lived since 2006. I spoke to her about ten days ago and she said she was not feeling well…but she's said that almost every time we've spoken in the last decade. She was 95 and I can't tell you how glad I am that I went to see her back there two years ago.
Betty was my next door neighbor from about the time I was a year and a half old. The photo above of her is one I took from my back yard when I was around fourteen. She was like an unofficial aunt to me.
Playing Barney's love interest Thelma Lou was, of course, only one role in a very long, productive career. This obit in Hollywood Reporter will cue you in on some of the other things she did but one correction: She played in the "Texas John Slaughter" series on ABC called Disneyland, not The Wonderful World of Disney. The latter was one of its names after it shifted over to NBC. I was around six when he did that show…barely able to grasp the concept that the nice lady next door was a TV star.
(And just a few days ago here, I reposted an article about her and that program.)
A few things I should tell you about Betty: One was that she was a fine actress — better than you'd realize if all you knew her from was the Griffith Show. Secondly, she was serious about acting as a profession. It was what she wanted to do, not because it might make her rich or famous but because she was proud of being good at it and always aspiring to be better.
Thirdly, you could not have asked for a better neighbor. Growing up, it was like I had an auxiliary relative right next door. She was deeply religious and apart from acting, the only profession she had ever contemplated was to become a nun. I don't really know what it takes to be a nun but I'll bet she would have been great at it.
I'm going to think about what else I want to write about her here. I have a lot of history to scroll through…but I guarantee all it'll do is make you wish she'd been your neighbor.