'Andy Griffith Show' Star Robbed In 'Mayberry'

The actress who played Thelma Lou on "The Andy Griffith Show" was robbed in the town that inspired the show's idyllic Mayberry setting, after moving to the area to avoid big-city crime.

Betty Lou Lynn had her wallet stolen at a shopping center in Mount Airy, the birthplace of Andy Griffith.

The Mount Airy News reports that police arrested Shirley Walter Guynn of Cana, Va. He's being held in Surry County Jail on a $10,000 bond. It was not immediately clear Thursday whether he has a lawyer.

In an earlier interview with the newspaper, the 83-year-old Lynn said she moved to Mount Airy after being robbed three times in Los Angeles. In the TV series, Thelma Lou was the girlfriend of Deputy Barney Fife, played by Don Knotts.

[starleo146]

by ToolMangler1 April 29, 2010 7:43 PM EDT
You've heard of the Girl named 'Sam' and the Boy named 'Sue'. (Johnny Cash)

Well, his Momma could have named his brothers 'Goodness and Mercy'.

(That way she could say that "Shirley, Goodness 'n Mercy" will follow me) ;)

Clever and so funny

[formrusmcsgt]

Poor gal.

She was cute as a button in her time.

[dakotaclark]

Trouble in paradise? By the way, Shirley and Sharon are sometimes used for male names. I think that it is biblical in nature. Still, one would have to wonder about parents and "a boy named Sue," eh?

[longtree-2009]

"The Mount Airy News reports that police arrested Shirley Walter Guynn of Cana, Va. He's being held in Surry County Jail on a $10,000 bond." That has got to be wrong. Who would name their son, Shirley? No wonder he is a robber, angry, mean! The poor guy should get his name changed through the courts!

[doesmyopinionmatter]

Well, gawlee! Shame shame shame everbody knows your name!

[pragmatist1]

It wasn't always this way. The current trend is to have a bunch of criminals on the loose who feel they're entitled to take whatever they want from whomever. Judging from the posts, they're a bunch of us who are old enough to remember the show, enjoying it then and still enjoying it now in re-run format.

[AtLasOn1Kl733]

It sucks to live in reality. Ir really does.

[rwsmith29456]

Thelma Lou is 83?? Yikes. That makes me...

[RoboBlogger]

permenantly designated to stay out of the left lane and remain in the right lane. please.

[koko98-2009]

I'm glad the authorities "Nipped it! Nipped it! Nipped it right in the bud!"

[yoyoinla]

LOL!!!

[amerilatino]

A little light on what there was on the other side of the tracks at Mayberry, where Sheriff Taylor looked the other way while them good-ole'-boys cranked up their stills while there women sewed patches onto their white, hooded robes. Thelma's done come home to find that the good-ole-boys now cook meth, gangbang for money and have swastikas tattooed on their bald heads, bet she misses them good ole' days now...

[yoyoinla]

Uh, it was a TELEVISION show. No white hooded robes, no swastika tattoos, no meth...just innocent HUMOR. Your statements were so far off base, they couldn't even be considered ironic.
It's called a sense of humor...get one, they're fun.
And NO, I am not implying in any way that being robbed was in any way humorous. I'm sorry Betty had to go through that.