Actress Betty Lynn, now 93, resides in Mount Airy, North Carolina, and still gets to play the part.

× Expand Joe Tennis Betty Lynn played Thelma Lou on TV.

It’s the third Friday afternoon of the month in the real-life Mayberry—Mount Airy, North Carolina—and fans are standing dozens deep to greet Barney Fife’s girlfriend.

That’s Thelma Lou—the sweet-natured lady portrayed by actress Betty Lynn during the early 1960s on “The Andy Griffith Show.”

Today, at 93, Lynn holds court at the Andy Griffith Museum at Mount Airy, the “Granite City” and hometown of the late Griffith. This is where Lynn has been living since 2007, having been attracted here because of the city’s Mayberry Days celebrations.

And now? She’s willing to reveal a few secrets of the real-life Mayberry:

“Andy was shocked. He could not believe that I had moved here,” Lynn says. “Somehow, he never thought that I would move to his hometown.”

“I was robbed after I got here. I followed him and chased after him and yelled, ‘Thief! Thief!’ The police caught him right away,” Lynn says. “There was a headline that read, ‘Thelma Lou robbed in Mayberry.’’’

“If you look down Main Street, there’s a maple tree. And it was all lit up pretty with lights and everything. The Christmas tree they light up is a maple tree,” Lynn says with a hysterical laugh. “I’m sure there aren’t any other cities that have a maple tree for their Christmas tree. If that isn’t Mayberry, I’ve never seen it. And it is. Isn’t that a Mayberry thing?”

Andy Griffth Museum, Mount Airy, N.C., 336-786-7998.

The story above appears in our March/April 2020 issue. For more like it subscribe today or log in to the digital edition with your active digital subscription. Thank you for your support!