I still stay in touch with Elinor Donahue. I've known Elinor since she was 14-years-old.

[I and Don Knotts never have a romantic relationship off screen].We were just good friends, and would go out to dinner sometimes when we both lived in Los Angeles. People always asked me if we were involved, but I always said, No! He's a married man!.

Don Knotts won five Emmy Awards for Outstanding Performance in a Supporting Role by an Actor or Actress in a Series [in Andy Griffith Show] in 1961, 1962, 1963, 1966 and 1967.

We actually grew closer as friends years later when we started doing personal appearances together. I stayed in touch with Andy [Griffith] and Don [Knotts] until they passed away.

Andy [Griffith] and I spoke on the phone not too long before he died. I told him I loved him and he told me he loved me. He was a wonderful man.

In 1986, when they made the TV movie, Return to Mayberry, Barney and Thelma Lou did get married!

George Lindsay who played Goober thought Andy Griffith Show limited his career.

They were all wonderful [on Andy Griffith Show], but I enjoyed Andy and Don and Ron the most. Ron played little Opie so well. He really took acting seriously and worked hard to deliver his lines well. Andy was always fun and liked to tease. Don was nothing like Barney. Don was very quiet, which shows what a good actor he was.

Don Knotts left [Andy Griffith Show] to pursue a movie career, so once he was gone I left too.

I'd been visiting Mount Airy every year for Mayberry Days. Twice when I was doing personal appearances, one in Alabama and once for Mayberry Days, my house in Los Angeles was robbed. I decided I didn't want to live there anymore, so I moved to Mount Airy, and I am so glad I did!

I love Mayberry! The people here are wonderful! When I'm at the grocery store people come up and hug me. Friends pick me up and take me for rides on the Blue Ridge Parkway and I always love that.

I think the show has so many wonderful memories connected to it for lots of people. When fans come to see me at the Andy Griffith Museum they get so emotional. Some of them cry, lots of them hug me and some want a kiss on the cheek.

Twenty years after the Andy Griffith Show when Andy did Matlock, he hired me for four episodes. I told him I wanted to develop an Aunt Bea type role for Matlock, but he was against it. I did appear on other popular TV shows, like Family Affair, My Three Sons, Barnaby Jones and Little House on the Prairie.