TUCKERMAN — Although Marietta Thompson of Tuckerman lives in a small town, she has rubbed elbows with some well-known people.
On July 3, Andy Griffith died, and Thompson began thinking of all the times she hung out with the cast and crew of The Andy Griffith Show when she attended various film festivals, collector’s shows, awards programs and town gatherings. Because Thompson was such a fan of and a collector of memorabilia from shows such as The Andy Griffith Show, she attended those events and collected autographed photos and many memories.
The Andy Griffith Show first aired on CBS on Oct. 3, 1960, and ran until April 1, 1968.
Thompson said she sees several parallels between Mayberry and Tuckerman.
“I live in a small town: Tuckerman, Ark., population 1,862, including some old-timers, good-natured gossips and many stray cats,” Thompson said.
She said the fictional town of Mayberry had its town drunk, a stoplight and the Darling family.
“I had a grandfather who went to prison for making moonshine. … In Tuckerman, our one light was a caution only where Main Street crossed Highway 67,” she said. “Our city drugstore sat on a corner, and it was open on Sunday mornings until time for church to start. The coffee was free to all. In Mayberry, the drugstore opened on Sunday at noon, immediately after church.”
Tuckerman also had its own Darling family. Thompson said they are all good folks, but she never heard them play a musical instrument like the Darlings from Mayberry.
The Darling boys on the show were portrayed by the real-life bluegrass band The Dillards.
“The Darlings of the Mayberry area could make those guitars talk,” she said. “I wanted to jump up and clap my hands at the sound of ‘Salty Dog.’ Mayberry had Jed Darling up in the mountains, and Tuckerman had Ed Darling here on flat land.”
When she was in Los Angeles in 2000, Tuckerman met Don Knotts, who played Barney Fife on the show. She said he told her that he once had a job as an usher and ticket taker at a theater.
“I told him that I had popped popcorn, sold tickets and sometimes had to reach around the corner to take up the ticket from the customer who had just bought it from me,” she said. “He laughed.”
She said she asked him what was the question most people asked him, and he replied, “How did you get the part of Barney Fife?” So she couldn’t help herself from wanting to know the answer.
“He replied with a smile. ‘I asked Andy Griffith, “Don’t you need a deputy?” And he did.’”
Thompson also met Betty Lynn, who played Thelma Lou in 26 episodes of the show.
She first met Lynn in Memphis in 1989, then again in Los Angeles in 2000.
“While walking around the Beverly Garland Hotel, I entered the ladies room,” Thompson said. “I looked up and was face to face with Betty Lynn. We laughed about the meeting place; however, it was quiet there away from the crowd. … The next day, wandering around outside, I heard my name called. Betty, sitting there on a bench, asked if I would keep her company while she waited for a taxi. She had such a quiet manner, so easy to talk to. Seemed like I had known her all my life. We discussed grandchildren, recipes and such for about 20 minutes.”
As pleasant as her visit with Lynn may have been, Thompson said the time in Los Angeles in 1996 when she met Howard Morris, who played the rock-throwing Ernest T. Bass on the show, was not so wonderful.
“I was thrilled anytime I saw Ernest T. Bass in an episode of The Andy Griffith Show. Wow! Now to meet Mr. Morris in person,” she said. “I spoke to him and asked if he ever got any offers to buy his rope belt. He just looked at me and frowned.”
She said she asked him if she could snap a photo, and she said she thought he nodded, but twice as the camera flashed, he dropped his head, and when she tried a third time, he turned his back to her.
“I decided I could do without his picture, and I surely did not want one with him,” she said. “I was halfway afraid I was about to be showered with rocks. On the show, bricks and rocks were his weapons of choice.”
She met, posed in photos with and talked with mostly every actor who played on the show.
“For one of the finest programs in comedy history, I offer my thanks, admiration and respect for The Andy Griffith Show,” she said. “In thinking of how to end this, I’ll borrow from Barney Fife and just ‘Nip it! Nip it in the bud!’ I think I found Mayberry. It’s right here in Tuckerman.”
Staff writer Jeanni Brosius can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or jbrosius@arkansasonline.com.