'Andy Griffith Show' Actress Robbed in 'Mayberry'

By Marc Schneider Posted Apr 30th 2010 09:00AM

Betty Lou Lynn, the actress who played Barney Fife's girlfriend on 'The Andy Griffith Show,' moved to the small Virginia town that inspired Mayberry to get away from the crime and hassle of Los Angeles. On Sunday, she was robbed there, the Mount Airy News reports.

Lynn, 83, that's Thelma Lou to fans of the show, was at a Carroll County, Va., shopping center when a man approached and grabbed her wallet before fleeing. Police say the wallet contained $130.

Quick-footed authorities were notified and caught the suspect under a nearby bridge. Shirley Walter Guynn was arrested and charged with felony robbery and was being held in a local jail as of Wednesday evening.

Despite being caught quickly, Guynn either spent or ditched $87 of the contents of Lynn's wallet before it was retrieved.

In an interview with local TV station WXII, the actress gave a play-by-play of the encounter, saying the man approached her out of nowhere as she was waiting for a cab.

"He was coming at me like a tornado," she said. "He pounced on my hands and my purse and me and grabbed the wallet and off he went."

Lynn said she even started running after Guynn, all the while yelling for help.

In a 2008 interview she explained why she moved to Mount Airy (or "Mayberry" as some refer to it) from Los Angeles a year before.

"I'd been robbed on the street twice and once in a department store," she said of the big city.

She said she moved to the real-life Mayberry because she feared she may be physically harmed by criminals and have her valuables stolen.

Lynn starred as Deputy Fife's girlfriend in 26 episodes of the iconic series about a small town sheriff, played by Andy Griffith. She came back to the character in the 1986 TV special, 'Return to Mayberry.'

Other credits include stints on 'Matlock,' 'My Three Sons' and 'Family Affair.'

Gomer nearly stands up his homely date, who happens to be Thelma Lou's cousin:

Tags: andy griffith show, Betty Lou Lynn

Comments

(82)

Friday 30 April

By eaglegirl826

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Mt. Airy is in North Carolina, not Virginia!

By Anne

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If you Goggled Mt Airy, Va you would know there is a Mt Airy, Va.

By King David

The article was not finished!!! The story continues with Barney running up to the scene where the thief was being held, put his only bullet in his revolver, and blew the thief's brains out!!! Then he and Thelma Lou went off and had a Geritol Slurpee. Case closed!!!

By HELLO POO & PALS

There are several Mt Airy's, I live in Georgia and we have a Mt Airy here.

By carolinagirl

Mt. Airy is in NC - where Andy is from. There may be others, but they aren't the town that inspired the show.

By SouthernGal

MAYBERRY....a.k.a. THAT Mt. Airy...is in North Carolina...

By Pepelaputr

If you click on the Mount Airy News link in the 1st paragraph, you'll find that the Mount Airy in the report is in Surry Count, North Carolina. The story's writer apparently didn't even use one of their own sources.
Also, what's up with mentioning the actresses' character name in each of the first two paragraphs?

By Lauren

Yes, I know Andy Griffith - he is from Mt. Airy NC. He just became a member of the church I used to work at.

By louanne

But the real life "Mayberry" they're referring to is actually Mt. Airy, North Carolina. Seriously - you'd think people could get their facts straight before they publish a story that the entire world is gonna read. Psht!

By Goob

Coincidentally, Floyd was in Thelma Lou's bloomers, not Barney.

Saturday 01 May

By Aunt Bea

Where was Barney?

By KP

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Did Barney or Andy catch the criminal? and yes this location in in NC!

By Jim

"... because she feared she may be physically harmed..." No. The correct English word is "might." Are there any editors out there or do the "writers" just post whatever they like and AOL puts its name on it?

By SkyBlue

Good grief. You understood what was meant, so what difference does it make whether it's "may" or "might". You grammar police out here need to get a life, because your constant nitpicking is tiresome and pointless.

By contessa2u

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This is not a spelling "B" you jerk Who the hell think you are Mr. know it all oh I will bet you think you are so important.

By Christine

To skyblue about the "grammar police": It is a shame that today's kids' are not learning proper language skills as the children in the past. What is wrong, in your opinion, with having good spelling and other skills that present a person as intellectual, not your everyday "texter" with horrible spelling! I find today's world sad for the children. They're getting away with too much.

By Bleu Lorax

It's a shame that ADULTS, who should know better, have no concept of what it proper in terms of spelling, punctuation, grammar, and word usage. Many of the people who are too ignorant to understand that it DOES matter are simply uneducated and are willing to accept sloppy, careless journalism because that's who they are and how they live their lives. Leave the people who are AWARE alone. They're right you losers.

By quotes

When printing direct quotes you cannot change a quote because the english is incorrect.

By mrsliss

If someone is going to post ANYTHING to the public, they have a responsibility to spell it correctly and use correct grammer and punctuation. No one should have to work to understand what is meant.

By Bran

No, mrsliss, quotes is right. When quoting someone, you must print what they said, exactly how they said it, even if their grammar is incorrect. THAT is proper journalism. But even if it's the journalist who makes the mistake, so what? We are human, and prone to error. And if you're the type of person who gets hung up on grammar mistakes, then you probably have some serious psychological issues that you need resolved before the stress of living in an imperfect world sends you to an early grave. And yes, I know you're not supposed to use "and" at the beginning of a sentence. It's called artistic license.

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