Betty Lynn
Betty Lynn | |
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B&W image of smiling actor sitting cross-legged on cushion
Publicity image of Lynn on The Andy Griffith Show , c. 1960
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Born | Elizabeth Ann Theresa Lynn August 29, 1926 Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. |
Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Mount Airy, North Carolina, U.S. |
Other names | Betty Ann Lynn |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1948–2006 |
Known for | Portraying Thelma Lou on The Andy Griffith Show |
Elizabeth Ann Theresa Lynn[1] (August 29, 1926 – October 16, 2021) was an American actress. She was best known for her role as Thelma Lou, Deputy Barney Fife's girlfriend, on The Andy Griffith Show. During the 1940s and 1950s, she appeared in many films, including Sitting Pretty (1948),[2] June Bride (1948)[2], the original Cheaper by the Dozen (1950),[2] and Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956).[2]
Contents
Early life
Lynn was born in Kansas City, Missouri,[3] on August 29, 1926.[4][2], Her mother, Elizabeth Ann Lynn,[5] was "an accomplished mezzo-soprano" who taught Betty to sing and enrolled her in the Kansas City Conservatory of Music when she was only five years old.[6]
Lynn had little personal contact with her father, who once reportedly threatened to shoot her mother in the abdomen when she was pregnant. After Lynn's birth, her mother once took shelter in a locked closet with the baby as her husband threatened the two. They divorced when Lynn was 5 years old. Lynn's grandfather, George Andrew Lynn, a railroad engineer, took on the role of father as she grew up.[6]
USO tour
When she was 17, Lynn auditioned to participate in United Service Organizations entertainment. At age 18 she was part of a USO tour in the China Burma India Theater. She realized the gravity of the situation when a Marine gave her a pistol saying, "You might need this."[6]
Her activities on the tour included visiting patients in hospitals and singing requests from a repertoire of 725 songs. She also met recently released prisoners of war from Rangoon, and she was told by a doctor, "Most of them will be out of their minds in six months."[6]
Acting career
Betty Lynn began her acting career in radio as a member of the cast on a daytime drama on a station in Kansas City.[7]
On Broadway,[2] she appeared in Walk with Music (1940), Oklahoma! (1943),[8] and Park Avenue (1946).[9] She was discovered in a Broadway production by Darryl F. Zanuck and signed to 20th Century Fox.[10] A clause in her contract allowed the studio to drop her at six-month intervals, leading to recurring concerns for Lynn. She said, "I was a redhead with freckles and didn’t have a bosom. I prayed so hard they’d keep picking me up."[6]
Lynn made her film debut in the 1948 film Sitting Pretty, which won a Photoplay Gold Medal.[9] 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).[11]
Lynn replaced Patricia Kirkland in the role of Betty Blake in the CBS comedy, The Egg and I (1951-1952),[12] and she played Pearl in the ABC comedy Love That Jill (1958).[12]:{{{3}}} During this time she became neighbor to an infant Mark Evanier, who she has said became a close friend.[9]
She was Viola Slaughter in the ABC Western Texas John Slaughter (1958–62).[12]:{{{3}}} In the 1953–54 television season, Lynn was cast as June Wallace, the sister-in-law of the Ray Bolger character in the ABC sitcom Where's Raymond?.[12]:{{{3}}}
After guest-starring on various television series, including Schlitz Playhouse of Stars,[2] The Gale Storm Show,[2] Sugarfoot,[2] and Markham,[2] Lynn won the role of Thelma Lou on The Andy Griffith Show.[2]Despite playing the role for five years (1961–66), she appeared in only 26 episodes, and was never signed on to the show (in part because at the time she was cast, she was still under contract for Texas John Slaughter).[9] She recounted, "I didn't want to leave Thelma Lou. I really loved her. I enjoyed her. She was sweet and kind, she was so fun to play, and I loved working with Don Knotts - he was so wonderful."[9] Following the end of The Andy Griffith Show, Lynn continued appearing in various television and film roles.[11]
In 2006, Lynn retired from acting and relocated to Mount Airy, North Carolina, the home town of Andy Griffith and the town on which Mayberry is believed to have been based despite Griffith's claims to the contrary.[2]
Personal life
In 1950 in Los Angeles, Lynn bought a house, where her mother and grandparents moved in and lived with her for years. She thus assumed the off-screen roles of breadwinner and caretaker.[6]
Lynn never married, although she stated she was once engaged.[13] By July 2019, she was residing in Mount Airy and she continued to make monthly personal appearances in town at the Andy Griffith Museum, signing autographs and meeting with her fans.[14]
The family requests donations to the Betty Lynn Scholarship Endowment in her honor. The scholarship endowment helps students pursuing careers in acting or dance.[2][10] Lynn herself has commented, "The longer I live here, the more I see things [Griffith] took from his hometown."[9]
An autobiography is in the works.[4]
Lynn died on October 16, 2021, after a brief illness, at the age of 95.[4][15] A private burial service is planned in Culver City, California. A memorial service will be announced at a later date.[16]
Honors
Lynn was inducted into the Missouri Walk of Fame, located in Marshfield, Missouri, in 2007.[17] Nine years later on August 30, 2016, she was presented with the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the highest civilian honor in North Carolina, by the state's lieutenant governor Dan Forest, having been granted it by governor Pat McCrory.[18]
Partial filmography
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1948 | Apartment for Peggy[19][20] | Wife | Credited as Betty Ann Lynn |
Sitting Pretty[19][11] | Ginger | Credited as Betty Ann Lynn | |
June Bride[19][11] | Barbara Brinker | ||
1949 | Mother Is a Freshman[19][11] | Susan Abbott | |
Father Was a Fullback[19][20] | Constance "Connie" Cooper | ||
1950 | Cheaper by the Dozen[19][11] | Deborah Lancaster | |
1951 | Payment on Demand[19][11] | Martha Ramsey | |
Take Care of My Little Girl[19][20] | Marge Colby | ||
1956 | Meet Me in Las Vegas[19][20] | Young Bride | Alternative title: Viva Las Vegas! |
1957 | Gun for a Coward[19][11] | Claire | |
1959 | Louisiana Hussy[19][11] | Lili Guillot | |
The Hangman[19][20] | Hotel Cafe Waitress |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1958 | M Squad[21] | Susan Baines | Episode: "The Trap" |
1958 | Lawman[22] | Edna Phillips | Episode: "The Oath" |
1958 | Wagon Train[11][23] | Molly Richardson | Episode: "The Dick Richardson Story" |
1958 | Bronco[11] | Molly Bailey | Episode: "Baron of Broken Lace" |
1959 | Tales of Wells Fargo[24] | Mary Francis | Episode: "The Bounty Hunter" |
1959 | Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer[11] | Mona | Episode: "Pen Pals" |
1959 | Sugarfoot[11] | Sarah Sears | Episode "The Royal Raiders" |
1959 | Sugarfoot[11] | Alice Fenton | Episode "The Twister" |
1960-1961 | Texas John Slaughter[25] | Viola | 8 Episodes Mid Season 2 and all of 3 |
1960–1966 | The Andy Griffith Show[11][23] | Thelma Lou | 26 episodes |
1960 | National Velvet[26] | Barbara Howard | Episode: "Mi's Girl" |
1963 | The Farmer's Daughter[11] | Sylvia | Episode: "The Speechmaker: Part 2" |
1965 | The Smothers Brothers Show[11] | Vera | Episode: "Here Comes the Bridegroom" |
1967–1970 | My Three Sons[11] | Janet/Janice; Lois | 7 episodes |
1966–1968 | Family Affair[11][23] | Miss Lee | 4 episodes |
1969 | The Mod Squad[11] | Mrs. Hill | Episode: "The Healer" |
1974 | Little House on the Prairie[11][23] | Bridget | Episode: "If I Should Wake Before I Die" |
1978 | Barnaby Jones[11] | Mrs. Russell | Episode: "Blind Jeopardy" |
1986 | Matlock[11][23] | Sarah | 4 episodes |
References
Specific
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- ↑ 11.00 11.01 11.02 11.03 11.04 11.05 11.06 11.07 11.08 11.09 11.10 11.11 11.12 11.13 11.14 11.15 11.16 11.17 11.18 11.19 11.20 11.21 11.22 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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- ↑ 19.00 19.01 19.02 19.03 19.04 19.05 19.06 19.07 19.08 19.09 19.10 19.11 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lentz 1997, p. 253.
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 23.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lentz 1997, p. 396.
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Bibliography
- Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to [[commons:Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 506: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).|Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 506: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).]]. |
- Betty Lynn discography at Discogs
- Betty Lynn at the Internet Movie DatabaseLua error in Module:EditAtWikidata at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
- Betty Lynn at the Internet Broadway DatabaseLua error in Module:EditAtWikidata at line 29: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).Lua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 28: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
- Betty Lynn helping to donate Andy Griffith show articles to Andy Griffith Museum in Mount Airy, North Carolina
- Interview, September, 2015
- Articles with short description
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- 1926 births
- 2021 deaths
- 20th-century American actresses
- Actresses from Kansas City, Missouri
- American film actresses
- American radio actresses
- American stage actresses
- American television actresses
- 20th Century Fox contract players
- People from Mount Airy, North Carolina