Andy griffith show barney fife series#

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).

Lynn made her film debut in the 1948 film Sitting Pretty, which won a Photoplay Gold Medal. I prayed so hard they’d keep picking me up.' She said, 'I was a redhead with freckles and didn't have a bosom. A clause in her contract allowed the studio to drop her at six-month intervals, leading to recurring concerns for Lynn. She was discovered in a Broadway production by Darryl F. On Broadway, she appeared in Walk with Music (1940), Oklahoma! (1943), and Park Avenue (1946). 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.' Acting career īetty Lynn began her acting career in radio as a member of the cast on a daytime drama on a station in Kansas City. Her activities on the tour included visiting patients in hospitals and singing requests from a repertoire of 725 songs, her primary mission to entertain and console wounded servicemen in military hospitals. She realized the gravity of the situation when a Marine gave her a pistol saying, 'You might need this.' At age 18 she was part of a USO tour in the China Burma India Theater during World War II. When she was 17, Lynn auditioned to participate in United Service Organizations entertainment. Betty's grandfather, a railroad engineer, effectively served as her father figure from then on, until his death in Sacramento, California in 1959. She went with her mother to live with her mother's parents, Josie (née Hill) and George Andrew Lynn, who also resided in Kansas City. įollowing her mother's breakup with Dailey, young Betty had little personal contact with her father.

Their marriage is reported to have been a tumultuous one, with allegations that her father once threatened to shoot her mother in the abdomen when she was pregnant, and that after Betty's birth, he made additional threats that forced her mother on one occasion to hide in a locked closet to protect herself and her baby. Prior to that, according to federal census records, her parents had separated and divorced before April 1930. Her mother, described as 'an accomplished mezzo-soprano', taught Betty in her early childhood to sing and enrolled her in the Kansas City Conservatory of Music when she was only five years old. Her father was a civil engineer, who worked initially as a municipal employee for Kansas City and later as a private contractor.

Andy griffith show barney fife series#

She also played a major role in an episode of the television series Little House on the Prairie.īorn in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1926, Betty Lynn was the only child of Elizabeth Ann ( née Lynn) and George A. During the 1940s and 1950s, she appeared in many films, including Sitting Pretty (1948), June Bride (1948), the original Cheaper by the Dozen (1950), and Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956). She played Thelma Lou, Deputy Barney Fife's girlfriend, on The Andy Griffith Show. But after the Army, Knotts graduated college and moved back to NYC to pursue his dream once again.Portraying Thelma Lou on The Andy Griffith ShowĮlizabeth Ann Theresa Lynn (Aug– October 16, 2021) was an American actress. Unfortunately, he failed to make his dreams a reality and returned to West Virginia. One of Knotts’ early acts involved a dummy and ventriloquism.īefore going to college, Knotts moved to New York City to pursue comedy. In his spare time, he began to practice comedy and performed at school or church events. For instance, Knotts’ father once even threatened him at gunpoint.ĭuring the day, Knotts worked as a chicken plucker on a factory line, defeathering the poultry before it was sent out. The man became known for severe rages and episodes of anger and violence that threatened his children’s lives. Knotts’ father had diagnosed with schizophrenia and also was an alcoholic. Knotts had something of difficult childhood and an unstable relationship with his father. Born on July 21, 1924, in Morgantown, West Virginia, Jesse Donald Knotts found solace in comedy and humor.