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" There&amp;#039;s nothing like a celebrity birthday to make us feel old, which is why we did a double take when we saw that actress Betty Lynn&amp;#039;s 90th birthday is today. Betty is famously know for portraying Thelma Lou on The Andy Griffith Show, a role that she reprised for the1986 made-for-television reunion movie, Return to Mayberry. To celebrate this nonagenarian, The Charlotte Observer published a fascinating profile of the actress. Here, we&amp;#039;re rounded up eight of the most intriguing takeaways.  1. Betty retired to Mayberry. Even casual fans of The Andy Griffith Show were well acquainted with Mayberry, the fictitious all-American small town that provided the backdrop for the show. In reality, it&amp;#039;s rumored that Mayberry is based on Andy Griffith&amp;#039;s hometown of Mount Airy, North Carolina, which is where Betty retired in 2006. 2. She could never rid herself of her Thelma Lou character.  According to the article, Betty had serious trouble finding work after her run as Thelma Lou. &amp;quot;All I got were calls for backwoods women,&amp;quot; she told the Observer. &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;d been typecast.&amp;quot; 3. Her first gig was in the USO. During World War II, when Betty was 18, she was sent to China, Burma, and India, where she sung songs to burn victims and other patients.         4. Her favorite movie that she ever starred in was &amp;quot;June Bride.&amp;quot; The 1948 film, in which Betty played a jilted younger sister, starred Robert Montgomery and Bette Davis. The movie now sits at the top of Betty&amp;#039;s list of favorite films, so much so that the Mount Airy community is screening it in honor of her birthday. 5. She was paid $500 an episode for Andy Griffith. Cast as Barney Fife&amp;#039;s girlfriend, Betty easily stepped into the shoes of Thelma Lou, the role that would rocket her name to fame across the country. 6. She had a tumultuous family history. Born to an erratic and violent father, Betty never had a relationship with him. Years later, Betty lived in fear that he would find her and possibly inflict harm on her or her mother, though he never did. Instead, her grandfather played a paternal role and Betty referred to him as &amp;quot;Daddy.&amp;quot;  7. She&amp;#039;s been engaged three times, but never married. Betty was engaged to the same man three different times, though the two never tied the knot due to suspicions of his infidelity.  8. The show still deeply resonates with her.  On the third Friday of every month, Betty heads to the nearby Andy Griffith Museum to sign autographs for three hours. According to the Observer, people of all ages will travel to the town to meet her. &amp;quot;People get so emotional when they come,&amp;quot; says Betty. &amp;quot;They have an emotional reaction to that show. When they cry, so do I.&amp;quot;  You can read the fascinating profile in its entirety at The Charlotte Observer.  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.countryliving.com/life/entertainment/a39662/betty-lynn-andy-griffith-show-birthday/>