who was opie's mother on the andy griffith show
Opie Taylor Opie's mother is mentioned only once in the series. In "Wedding Bells for Aunt Bee", Andy tells Opie he had a love for the boy's mother similar to the love Aunt Bee feels for her beau. Other than this one mention, Opie's mother is non-existent on the show; there are no photographs of her in the house, or other souvenirs, and no one mentions a grave. In the backdoor pilot episode from The Danny Thomas Show, viewers learn Andy lost Opie's mother when the boy was "the least little speck of a baby," indicating that Mrs. Taylor either left the family or she passed away when Opie was a baby. On a "Mayberry RFD" episode, viewers learn that Opie's former teacher and stepmother Helen gave birth to Andy Taylor, Jr, who is christened in Mayberry.
Barney Fife Fife appeared on The Andy Griffith Show from the show's beginning in 1960 until 1965, when Knotts left the show to pursue a career in feature films. It is explained that Fife had left Mayberry to take a job as a detective in Raleigh. Knotts reprised the character in guest appearances each season until The Andy Griffith Show left the air in 1968. Barney also appeared in the inaugural Mayberry R.F.D. episode, in which Andy and Helen Crump marry. In 1971, the character, whose name is not explicitly mentioned, appears in the premiere episode of The New Andy Griffith Show, visiting the mid-sized city of Greenwood to catch up with Mayor Andy Sawyer, who looks exactly like Andy Taylor and shares some of Taylor's earlier mannerisms and friendships with Fife, Goober Pyle and Emmett Clark. Fifteen years would pass before the character was again reprised in the reunion film Return to Mayberry in 1986. By then, Fife had moved back and become the town's acting sheriff.