Jim Nabors

Jim Nabors was an actor and singer, known throughout his career as Gomer Pyle, a character he played on TV for five years in the 1960s. Nabors was a graduate of the University of Alabama who got his start in Hollywood as a film cutter. On the side, he performed in a cabaret act, and that's where he got noticed. Invited to play a dim-witted mechanic in one 1962 episode of The Andy Griffith Show, Nabors was so popular he was given a spin-off sitcom, Gomer Pyle: USMC. Nabors played a guileless goof-up whose special talent was vexing his superior, Sgt. Carter (played by Frank Sutton). The show was a success for five years (1964-69), until Nabors decided to move on. For the rest of his career, Nabors made guest appearances on TV (he was a frequent guest on The Carol Burnett Show) and performed across the country in theater productions and musical revues (Nabors had a surprisingly powerful baritone). For many years, it was rumored that Jim Nabors had "married" actor Rock Hudson. The rumor was false, although Nabor did marry his partner of 38 years in 2013, when it became legal for two men to marry.