By Joe Tennis | Features Writer / Bristol (TN) Herald Courier
Published: February 18, 2010
Andy Griffith Museum pays tribute to popular actor, TV shows
MOUNT AIRY, N.C. – Even in New York, Wayne and Marcella had heard of the real-life Mayberry.
This couple – their last name is Pryputniewicz – had longed for a quiet town to retire to after living near Syracuse at Waterville, N.Y.
They wanted convenience and safety. But they also wanted some fun.
Mount Airy, N.C., fit the bill.
“The people here are really genuinely friendly,” said the 58-year-old Marcella Pryputniewicz.
Just a few months after retiring to the self-styled “Friendly City” of Mount Airy, the couple wandered into the recently relocated Andy Griffith Museum, housed in a newly built brick building.
And they were surprised to find many original costumes worn by characters on “The Andy Griffith Show,” like the drunkard Otis Campbell’s shirt and hat plus Deputy Barney Fife’s famous salt-and-pepper suit.
“I expected more pictures than anything,” the 59-year-old Wayne Pryputniewicz said.
‘BEING THELMA LOU’
Yet there was even more – a living relic from the show. As the Pryputniewicz couple walked in, they heard a familiar voice explaining her journey from Los Angeles to Mount Airy.
A long-haired lady, in her 80s, talked about her house getting robbed in California. Yet she bragged about her newfound friends along the North Carolina-Virginia border – and about her recent decision to move to Mount Airy.
This was the voice of Betty Lynn, the movie actress who portrayed Thelma Lou in the early years of “The Andy Griffith Show.”
Thelma Lou was the girlfriend of Deputy Fife, a TV character portrayed by the late actor Don Knotts.
Now, skip ahead several decades.
This year marks 50 years since the premiere of “The Andy Griffith Show” in 1960. Still, the show remains in reruns.
As for Lynn, not all has changed.
“I have been very busy just being Thelma Lou all the time,” Lynn said, smiling. “Everybody, when I go anywhere, they’ll say, ‘Are you Thelma Lou?’ ‘I can tell by your eyes,’ they’ll say. ‘I can tell by your voice.’ ”
Lynn blushed.
“Everyone’s been great to me here,” Lynn said. “It’s a lovely town. It’s so pretty. And kind people. I like it very much. So that’s about it, I guess. They’re kind of stuck with me for a while.”
Occasionally, now, Lynn will wander down to the Andy Griffith Museum, a repository of Mayberry memorabilia assembled by longtime Griffith friend and fan Emmett Forrest.
“It really is amazing. I love it myself,” Lynn said. “I can’t take it all in at once. People can’t do it all in a few minutes. It’s overwhelming.”
‘DISPLAYED PROPERLY’
Forrest’s fortune of photos, records, articles and artifacts has traveled to various sites around town for years – including Mount Airy’s Main Street.
“It’s wonderful to have it displayed properly,” said Forrest, an 82-year-old retiree who became friends with Griffith when the actor was 10 years old.
A collector for 25 years, Forrest first showed off his Andy Griffith collection a few years ago at Mayberry Days, an annual fall festival celebrating Mount Airy’s connection to “The Andy Griffith Show.”
Back then, Forrest had only a few pictures and trinkets. Since, he has assembled much more. And he has also coaxed his good friend Griffith into giving goodies to Mount Airy for display.
That includes a suit Griffith wore on another long-running hit TV series, “Matlock,” plus the wooden gavel used by Griffith as Sheriff Andy Taylor on “The Andy Griffith Show.”
Still, Forrest said, “The pride and joy of the whole collection are the signs on the courthouse door.”
One sign says “SHERIFF.” The other says “JUSTICE OF THE PEACE.” Both were actually seen in “The Andy Griffith Show.”
Yet, for years after the show went off the air, Forrest said, they were left to hang in Griffith’s garage – until Griffith donated them to Forrest and the museum.
‘SPEND DAYS’
Inside the museum, fans of CBS-TV’s “The Andy Griffith Show” can view decades of photos showing Griffith, now in his 80s and living in seclusion at Roanoke Island, N.C.
Historical artifacts span Griffith’s life from his childhood to his early acting experience, portraying Sir Walter Raleigh on stage at Roanoke Island’s “The Lost Colony” outdoor drama – a time when the actor was billed as “Andrew Griffith.”
“You could spend days looking at everything we have,” said museum director Jessica Morris.
On various walls, posters document Griffith’s success in movies and plays, on records and on television. Aside from “Matlock” and “The Andy Griffith Show,” the actor also showed up occasionally on “Mayberry, R.F.D.,” a successor series to “The Andy Griffith Show.”
Later, in the 1980s, both Griffith and Lynn starred in a Mayberry reunion movie that also featured Knotts.
“And once we got going,” Lynn said, “it was like we had just worked together the day before.”
‘ONLY ANDY KNOWS’
Today, Forrest said, it is common knowledge that much of Mayberry on “The Andy Griffith Show” was based on Griffith’s growing-up years at Mount Airy.
TV scripts flip-flopped the name of nearby “Pilot Mountain” to create “Mount Pilot.” Also, several real-life places of Mount Airy – including streets called Rockford, Haymore, Oak, Elm, Orchard, Maple, Pine, Willow, River, Spring and Banner – showed up on the show.
Forrest, too, figures his first name was remembered at Emmett’s Fix-It Shop, a fixture on the latter-day episodes.
Really?
Forrest grinned then quietly hinted, “Only Andy knows …”
IF YOU GO
What: Andy Griffith Museum
Where: 218 Rockford St., Mount Airy, N.C.
When: Open daily
Info: (336) 786-7998
Web: http://www.surryarts.org
ON TELEVISION
Watch more on Mount Airy, N.C., and the Andy Griffith Museum on WJHL’s “Cable Country,” airing on Feb. 19 at 5:55 p.m.
