41 Facts About Jim Nabors

James Thurston Nabors was an American actor, singer, and comedian, widely known for his signature character, Gomer Pyle.

Jim Nabors was discovered by Andy Griffith while working at a Santa Monica nightclub, and he later joined The Andy Griffith Show, where he played the good-natured, unsophisticated Gomer Pyle.

The character proved so popular that Jim Nabors was given his own successful spin-off show, Gomer Pyle, USM.

Jim Nabors became a popular guest on variety shows that showcased his rich baritone singing voice in the 1960s and 1970s.

Jim Nabors was the featured guest on every season premiere of The Carol Burnett Show and he had two specials of his own in 1969 and 1974.

Jim Nabors signed a recording contract with Columbia Records in 1965 and subsequently recorded numerous albums and singles, most of them containing romantic ballads.

Jim Nabors recorded for Ranwood Records during the late 1970s.

Jim Nabors was known for singing "Back Home Again in Indiana" before the start of the Indianapolis 500, held annually on the Memorial Day weekend.

Jim Nabors sang the unofficial Indiana anthem almost every year from 1972 to 2014, except for occasional absences due to illness or scheduling conflicts.

Jim Nabors was born in Sylacauga, Alabama, on June 12,1930, to Fred Jim Nabors, a police officer, and Mavis Pearl.

Jim Nabors had two older sisters, Freddie and Annie Ruth.

Jim Nabors worked at a Santa Monica tavern, The Horn, singing and acting in cabaret theater.

Jim Nabors's act featured him as a character similar to the later Gomer Pyle.

Jim Nabors sang in a baritone and sometimes spoke and sang in his higher-pitched comedic voice.

At the club, comedian Bill Dana saw Jim Nabors' act and invited him to appear on The Steve Allen Show.

Jim Nabors signed on to the show, but it was canceled.

Jim Nabors' character was based on his act at The Horn, and it became so popular that he was made a regular on the show and was later given the spin-off show Gomer Pyle, USM.

Jim Nabors first revealed his fine singing voice on the February 24,1964, "The Song Festers" episode of The Andy Griffith Show and on April 8,1964, on The Danny Kaye Show, and subsequently capitalized on it with numerous successful recordings and live performances.

Jim Nabors hosted a variety show, The Jim Nabors Hour, which featured his Gomer Pyle co-stars Ronnie Schell and Frank Sutton.

Typecast from his role as Gomer Pyle, Jim Nabors found his subsequent roles mostly comedic.

Jim Nabors appeared in every season premiere of The Carol Burnett Show, because Burnett considered him a "good-luck charm".

Also in 1973, Jim Nabors sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" before Game One of the Major League Baseball World Series.

Jim Nabors eventually grew tired of the "prime-time TV grind" and abandoned television jobs for nightclub and concert engagements and a role in a touring production of Man of La Mancha.

In 1983, Jim Nabors played an auto mechanic in Stroker Ace, starring Burt Reynolds as a NASCAR race car driver who has a contentious relationship with his team owner, a fried-chicken fast-food chain entrepreneur.

The film was panned, and Jim Nabors earned a Golden Raspberry Award for his performance.

In Reynolds' star-studded Cannonball Run II, about a cross-country car chase, Jim Nabors made a cameo appearance alongside such celebrities as Dom DeLuise, Jackie Chan, Shirley MacLaine, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and Andy Griffith Show co-stars Don Knotts and George Lindsey.

In 1986, Jim Nabors returned to television, reprising his role as Gomer Pyle in the television movie Return to Mayberry, in which the cast of The Andy Griffith Show reunited.

Also in 1986, Jim Nabors starred in the half-hour comedy pilot Sylvan in Paradise as the title character, Sylvan Sprayberry, an accident-prone bell captain at a Hawaiian hotel.

Jim Nabors eventually experienced "bright-light burnout" and disappeared from the stage, save for an occasional performance.

In 1984, after a five-year hiatus, Jim Nabors returned to performing, starring in the "Moulin Rouge" show at the Las Vegas Hilton and other shows in Reno and Las Vegas.

Jim Nabors later became involved with the American Liver Foundation as a result of his experience.

Shortly after recovering from his transplant, Jim Nabors embarked on another tour, with stops in Phoenix, St Louis, and Washington.

From 1997 to 2006, Jim Nabors starred in the Burton White-produced A Merry Christmas with Friends and Jim Nabors, a live performance at the Hawaii Theatre Center in Honolulu.

From 1972 to 2014, Jim Nabors sang "Back Home Again in Indiana" with the Purdue All-American Marching Band before each Indianapolis 500 race.

In March 2014, Jim Nabors announced that the 2014 Indianapolis 500 would be his final appearance, because health issues were limiting his ability to travel.

Jim Nabors began vacationing in Hawaii in the 1960s, and in 1976, moved from Bel Air, California, to Honolulu, Hawaii.

Jim Nabors owned a home and spent some summers in Whitefish, Montana, during the 1990s.

On January 15,2013, Jim Nabors married his partner of 38 years, Stan Cadwallader, at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel in Seattle, Washington, a month after same-sex marriage became legal in Washington.

For instance, Jim Nabors brought his then-partner Cadwallader along to his Indy 500 performance in 1978.

Jim Nabors died at his Honolulu, Hawaii, home on November 30,2017, aged 87.

Jim Nabors recorded 28 albums and numerous singles; three have been certified either gold or platinum by the RIAA.