Betty Lynn
August 29, 1926: Born in Kansas City, Mo., and named Elizabeth Ann Theresa Lynn;
raised by mother Elizabeth and maternal grandparents, Johanna and George
Andrew Lynn
c. 1931: Began ten years of studying dance with Helen Burwell at the Kansas City
Conservatory of Music
c. 1940: Began acting on Kansas City radio programs and singing in local supper clubs
1944: Toured for eight months with USO to Morocco, Iran, India, Burma and China,
including front lines, the Burma Road and the Road to Mandalay; received
commendation from U.S. Department of State and later named an Honorary Colonel
in the American Legion; was one of the youngest USO entertainers to go overseas
1946: Toured with Broadway-bound production of Park Avenue; all of the reviewers
praised Betty in their Broadway opening-night reviews
1946: Discovered by Daryl F. Zanuck and signed to movie contract with
20th Century Fox
June 20, 1947: Arrives with her mother in Hollywood, the same day her movie
contract with 20th Century Fox begins
1948: Release of first film, Sitting Pretty, starring Clifton Webb, Maureen O’Hara and Robert Young;
wins Photoplay Gold Medal for her performance as Ginger
1948: Played Barbara “Boo” Brinker, the June bride in Warner Bros. production of June Bride, starring Bette Davis and
Robert Montgomery
1949: Played role of a young wife in Apartment for Peggy, starring Jeanne Crain and William Holden
1949: Release of film Mother Is a Freshman, starring Loretta Young and Van Johnson, featuring Rudy Vallee and Betty
Lynn who played Loretta Young’s daughter, Susan
1949: Release of film Father Is a Fullback, starring Fred McMurray and Maureen O’Hara, played role of their daughter,
Connie Cooper, with younger daughter/sister, Natalie Wood
1950: Release of Cheaper by the Dozen; role of Deborah Lancaster
1951: Release of Payment on Demand
1951: Release of Take Care of My Little Girl
1951: As Fox and other Hollywood studios begin drastic cutbacks on contract players, Betty shifts her
career focus to the rapidly emerging options in television
1951: Sings with Merv Griffin and Roddy McDowall on The Freddy Martin Show, live from New York
1951: Played Betty Blake in live daily TV show The Egg and I
1954: Appeared in four episodes of popular Where’s Raymond? TV show, singing
and dancing with Ray Bolger and playing the part of his girlfriend, June
1954-1957: Returned to the big screen in multiple feature films for both MGM and
Universal Studios; also performed in West Coast plays, such as lead Peg of My
Heart (Hedda Hopper wrote about her performance, comparing her to Laurette
Taylor!), The Moon Is Blue and Neil Simon’s Come Blow Your Horn, when radio
(including “Lux Theater”), movie and TV work schedules permitted
1957-1960: A period of extensive television working, including The George Burns
and Gracie Allen Show, Jane Wyman Presents the Fireside Theatre, Markham
starring Ray Milland, Schlitz Playhouse, Calvacade of America, more than two
dozen episodes of NBC’s Matinee Theater, The Gail Storm Show and numerous
Westerns, including Sugarfoot, Wagon Train and Wells Fargo. Appeared in TV
movies for Disney and was under contract with Disney as Viola Slaughter in the Texas John Slaughter series, when
The Andy Griffith Show producers called
1961-1966: Appeared in 26 episodes of The Andy Griffith Show as Thelma Lou, Barney Fife’s girlfriend
1966: When Don Knotts and Barney Fife left Mayberry, so did Betty and Thelma Lou. Betty continued steady work
with four episodes as Miss Lee in Family Affair and seven episodes as Janet Dawson in My Three Sons from 1968 to
1971; also appeared on The Smothers Brothers Show, among others
1970s: Continued work in television on hits such as The Smith Family with Henry Fonda and Ron Howard, The Mod
Squad, Little House on the Prairie, Police Story and Barnaby Jones
April 13, 1986: The premiere of Return to Mayberry reunion movie, a ratings smash on NBC; Barney and Thelma Lou
get married!
1986: Appears in five episodes of Matlock as Ben Matlock’s assistant, Sarah
1990: Among the cast selected to appear in Superstation TBS special celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Andy
Griffith Show; also member of cast for live 30th Anniversary Cast Reunion show in Charlotte, N.C.
1991: Member of the cast for four performances of Mayberry Cast Reunion show at Opryland USA in Nashville, Tenn.
1995: Member of the cast for 35th Anniversary Mayberry Cast Reunion at the
North Carolina School of the Arts in Winton-Salem, N.C.
2000: Member of the cast for 40th Anniversary Mayberry Cast Reunion in
Birmingham, Ala.
February 2002: Appears with Howard Morris in a performance of Love Letters
in Mount Airy, N.C.
March 2004: Among the Andy Griffith Show cast, crew and writers honored
with a TV Land Legends Award
2006: Inducted into Missouri Walk of Fame in Marshfield, Mo., and spoke to
the Missouri State Senate in the capital, Jefferson City
January 17, 2007: After living in Los Angeles nearly sixty years (fifty of them in
the same house!), Betty moves to her new home in Mount Airy, N.C.
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