Jim Nabors, known for playing the good-natured if slow-witted bumpkin Gomer Pyle on “The Andy Griffith Show” and “Gomer Pyle: USMC,” has died, Fox 8 reported. He was 87.
Nabors, an Alabama native, was discovered by Griffith during a nightclub stint in Santa Monica, and appeared on “The Andy Griffith Show” as Pyle from 1962 to 1964. His starring vehicle “Gomer Pyle: USMC” ran from 1964 to 1969.
Nabors’ other credits include “The Carol Burnett Show,” “The Love Boat” and “The Lucy Show.”
Along with Nabors’ many screen roles, he was also an accomplished singer, recording nearly 30 albums.
Nabors, who moved to Hawaii in 1976 and owned a Maui macadamia plantation for more than two decades, married his long-time partner, Stan Cadwallader, in a Seattle ceremony in January 2013, a month after same-sex marriage had been legalized in Washington state.
Nabors’ big-screen credits include “Stroker Ace,” “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” and “Cannonball Run II.”
“I am deeply saddened to hear of Jim Nabors’ passing- he was a great friend-we did several movies together- his stage debut in the Music Man at my Dinner Theatre had a tremendous response and it was basically Jim being Jim. He had a big voice and a bigger zest for life – I loved him and so did millions of others,” said Burt Reynolds in a statement provided to TheWrap.
The actor was also a mainstay at the Indianapolis 500, singing “Back Home Again in Indiana” prior to the race for more than 30 years, up until 2014.