Andy Griffith’s on-screen character on The Andy Griffith Show, Andy Taylor, was a big-time bachelor. The death of Opie Taylor’s mother was covered briefly in a backdoor pilot, and Andy dated pretty regularly. Still, it took some time to find him an on-screen love that worked for the show’s overall vibe.
Aneta Corsaut and Andy Griffith had an affair
Helen Crump stole Andy Taylor’s heart on screen. Apparently, life imitates art. While the duo kept things quiet, Corsaut and Griffith developed their own relationship as things heated up between Andy and Helen. The on-screen lovers had a longstanding affair.
According to Daniel de Visé, the author who penned the book Andy and Don: The Making of a Friendship and a Classic American TV Show, Griffith and Corsaut tried to keep a budding romance quiet on the set of The Andy Griffith Show for several reasons. But the tension was obvious. The romance made other stars on the show a little nervous. It probably made Griffith’s then-wife pretty nervous, too.
Helen Crump actor Aneta Corsaut never married
Things between Aneta Corsaut and Andy Griffith may have developed as an affair, but they got pretty serious. According to de Visé, things between the on-screen lovers got so serious that Griffith proposed to Corsaut.
There was one serious problem with his proposal. Griffith was already married when he popped the question. Corsaut turned him down multiple times before their affair ended.
Despite things not working out for Corsaut and Griffith romantically, they remained friends, according to several sources. Corsaut never found a suitor worth marrying, either. She remained unmarried until she died in 1995. She had no children.
