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So long, Gomer: Jim Nabors Is Dead at 87

Moondance

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Moondance Grand Master

Moondance

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Jim Nabors, who starred as Gomer Pyle on The Andy Griffith Show and on his own sitcom before retiring the wide-eyed, countrified character at the height of his popularity, has died. He was 87.

 

Nabors died at his home in Hawaii on Wednesday night, his husband told Indiana's WTHR. A native of Alabama, Nabors also recorded more than two dozen albums with a rich, operatic baritone voice that surprised those who were used to hearing Nabors exclaim "Gawwwleee!" with a Southern twang on television.

 

... In the early 1960s, Nabors was a regular performer at The Horn, a cabaret theater on Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica that showcased new talent, when he was spotted by Andy Griffith, who thought Nabors would be perfect to play a new character on his CBS sitcom.

 

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Nabors was signed for just one episode, which aired midway through The Andy Griffith Show's third season in December 1962, but Gomer proved popular, and Nabors went on to appear on 23 installments of the series.

 

Nabors' run on The Andy Griffith Show culminated with the fourth-season finale, in which Gomer joins the U.S. Marines (the episode also served as the pilot for the spinoff sitcom).

 

Jim Nabors never ventured far into movies, though he did perform opposite his pal Burt Reynolds in such fare as The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982), Stroker Ace (1983) and, as "Pvt. Homer Lyle" in Cannonball Run II (1984).

 

James Thurston Nabors was born June 12, 1930, in Sylacauga, Ala., the son of a policeman. He sang in high school and acted in fraternity productions at the University of Alabama. After graduating with a degree in business administration, he moved to New York and worked as a typist and answered phones at the United Nations.

 

"With my thick accent, people would try out different languages on me, never suspecting I was speaking English," he joked.

 

Nabors returned to the South and worked as a film cutter for a TV station in Chattanooga, Tenn., then moved to Los Angeles - the climate was better suited for his asthma - and landed a similar jobat NBC. At nights, he sang and spun tales as a Gomer-like character at The Horn.

 

Comedian Bill Dana saw him perform, and that led to Nabors becoming a regular on ABC's The New Steve Allen Show. All the while, he kept performing in Santa Monica.

 

... Nabors admitted that he had trouble watching Pyle's opening credits when the series was playing in syndication because many of the Marines with whom he marched were killed in Vietnam. (The Pollyanna sitcom never addressed the war.)

 

He first demonstrated his singing ability to TV viewers in 1964 on CBS' The Danny Kaye Show, and on a Gomer Pyle episode that aired in November 1967, he sang "The Impossible Dream" from Man of la Mancha, which would become a concert staple for him. His 1980 album, The Heart-Touching Magic of Jim Nabors, went platinum.

 

... Nabors, who underwent a liver transplant in 1994, lived in Hawaii for more than 30 years and had homes in Honolulu and Maui, where he had a macadamia nut farm.

 

In January 2013, he married Stan Cadwallader, his partner of almost four decades, before a judge in a Seattle hotel room. Nabors met Cadwallader, a former firefighter in Honolulu, in 1975.

 

Source: The Hollywood Reporter, 11-30-17

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Bearofdistinction Mentor

Bearofdistinction

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I hope I don’t want to start some cruel, ongoing discussion, but I am genuinely curious - why the hatred toward Nabors?

 

 

Easy Stayed in the Closet - While Gay Men Died -- Had respect and a loyal following in the Xtian Religious Community where he could have done some good.

 

He was already an established as a star - had millions -- and his Macadamia Plantation in Hawaii and was living and loving another man -- He only came out after he retired --

 

I have the same kind of feeling for other similarly situated celebrities

 

Well Gomo-Homo Glad you got to get married on the carpet of bloody gay corpses who fought and died for your rights (Hock Spit)

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instudiocity Mentor

instudiocity

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Easy Stayed in the Closet - While Gay Men Died -- Had respect and a loyal following in the Xtian Religious Community where he could have done some good.

 

He was already an established as a star - had millions -- and his Macadamia Plantation in Hawaii and was living and loving another man -- He only came out after he retired --

 

I have the same kind of feeling for other similarly situated celebrities

 

Well Gomo-Homo Glad you got to get married on the carpet of bloody gay corpses who fought and died for your rights (Hock Spit)

ASSHOLE! It was different in the 1960’s!

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Bearofdistinction Mentor

Bearofdistinction

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ASSHOLE! It was different in the 1960’s!

 

That is Supreme Majestic Royal ASSHOLE to you -- And I was not talking about the 60's I was talking about the late 80s when Nabors was a wealthy established star getting close to retirement/semi-retirement

 

- During the AIDS/Gay Men's Health Crisis -

Late 80's BURFORD - No the 60's When you and J Edgar Hoover were wearing Mummy's Dress

Edited by Bearofdistinction
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Bearofdistinction Mentor

Bearofdistinction

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Who’s sounding vile now?

 

Lars -- I know nothing about you or your history and you know nothing of mine - But I do know that it is a demonstrable historic fact that the Closeted Famous and Wealthy stayed safe warm and wealthy. While many of us struggled to keep our friends alive and to see that they were cared for - while trying to get the attention and money of an uncaring government.

 

The Voices of those Wealthy-Connected-Famous Closet Queens could have advanced that fight and JUST MAYBE helped One More Person live --

 

And so as I stated above this is not just about Jim Nabors I have like feelings for all those similarly situated stars.

 

If that makes me VILE in your opinion so be it ---- I will curse the closeted till I die

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WilliamM Grand Master

+ WilliamM

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Catherine Hepburn in Everything!

 

Vile Old Closet Queen -- I Hope He Rots in Hell

 

Easy Stayed in the Closet - While Gay Men Died -- Had respect and a loyal following in the Xtian Religious Community where he could have done some good.

 

He was already an established as a star - had millions -- and his Macadamia Plantation in Hawaii and was living and loving another man -- He only came out after he retired --

 

I have the same kind of feeling for other similarly situated celebrities

 

Well Gomo-Homo Glad you got to get married on the carpet of bloody gay corpses who fought and died for your rights (Hock Spit)

 

That is Supreme Majestic Royal ASSHOLE to you -- And I was not talking about the 60's I was talking about the late 80s when Nabors was a wealthy established star getting close to retirement/semi-retirement

 

One would think someone with such strong opinions on proper gay behavior would know how to spell Katharine Hepburn's name correctly.

Edited by WilliamM
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GregM Mentor

+ GregM

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Why are some of you beating up this dead guy? How do you know he didn't quietly donate money to gay related charities? Who cares if he didn't come out till much later in his life? That's the path he felt was right for him. I'm glad this is a fairly anonymous board cause I'm quite sure some of your paths are less than angelic and pure. Smh.

 

Hugs,

Greg

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