Aneta Corsaut: Helen Crump on The Andy Griffith Show

Helen Crump was not supposed to be a long-time role

The Andy Griffith Show ran from 1960 to 1968, on CBS and has never been off the air during the past six decades. Aneta Corsaut first appeared on the series as Helen Crump in the season 3 episode Andy Discovers American in 1963. She was only hired for this one episode as Opie Taylor (Ron Howard's) school teacher but her chemistry with Griffith impressed the producers and they kept her on.

Several times, on the series BarneyFife (Don Knotts), jumped the gun and had the townspeople of Mayberry believing Andy ad Helen were engaged when they were not. By the time The Andy Griffith Show ended the couple were planning a wedding which took place during the first episode of Mayberry R.F.D, Barney returned to town and was the best man and the couple soon moved to Raleigh, North Carolina.

Anita Corsaut was a busy actress

Corsaut majored in drama at Northwestern University and studied acting with the famous Lee Strasberg, and in addition to acting, she is a writer. During her junior year, Aneta dropped out of school to pursue her career as an actress. In 1955 she was cast in the television shows Producers' Showcase and Robert Montgomery Presents. In 1960 she was in the TV movie Unsolved and the television series The Detectives, Johnny Ringo, Dearth Valley Days, Guestward Ho, and The Law and Mrs. Jones.

In later years she appeared on Bonanza, The Real McCoys, Ben Casey, Gunsmoke, Owen Marshall Attorney at Law, Marcus Welby MD and many other shows. Corsaut's big break came when she was cast as Jane, opposite Steve McQueen in the 1958 cult classic film The Blob. She worked steadily on television and in films during and after her run on The Andy Griffith Show including an uncredited role in the movie Blazing Saddles.

Corsaut's other film roles were Good Neighbor Sam in 1964, A Rage to Live (1965), and The Toolbox Murders (1978), In the 1980s sitcom House Calls Anita portrayed head nurse Bradley and long-time soap fans might recall that in 1977 Corsaut took over the role of nurse Jesse Brewer the ABC soap opera General Hospital when long-time portrayer Emily McLaughlin was unable to work due to illness.

Anita Corsaut and Andy Griffith off-screen

The actress also continued taking courses while on The Andy Griffith Show, with plans to complete her degree. her last credited role was as Judge Cynthia Justin on Matlock (1991-1992), According to the 2015 book Andy & Don: The Making of a Friendship and a Classic American TV Show, Corsaut and Griffith had an affair during their time working together on the long-running series. At the time of the alleged affair, Griffith was married to his first wife Barbara Griffith.

The actor married two more times but Anita never married and did not have children. Could she have carried a torch for Griffith all those years, alas we will never know? Fans of the Andy Griffith Show enjoyed the chemistry between Andy and Helen and if they were having an off-screen romance this may be why they were so convincing in front of the camera.

The duo obviously remained friends or Griffith would not have had his former co-star cast as the judge on Matlock. The duo worked together again 1n the 1986 reunion film Return to Mayberry. Andy and Helen come back to town to0 see Opie and his wife become first-time parents and christen their grandson Andrew Samuel Taylor.On November 6, 1995, Corsaut died at age 62 in Los Angeles, California from Cancer. The actress was interred at Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery in nearby North Hollywood because she was Catholic.