Alabama Native Jim Nabors, TV’s “Gomer Pyle”, Dead at 87
Actor Jim Nabors, who played Gomer Pyle on TV’s “The Andy Griffith Show,” has died at 87.
Nabors died peacefully at his home in Hawaii today with his husband, Stan Cadwallader, at his side. Cadwallader says Nabors’ health had been declining for the past year. His immune system also was suppressed after he underwent a liver transplant about 20 years ago.
CBS News reports that Cadwallader says Nabors’ health began to decline rapidly after Thanksgiving. He underwent a series of tests on Wednesday, but the decision was made to bring him home from the hospital. The coroner has not yet released Nabors’ cause of death, but Cadwallader said it appears to be from natural causes.
Nabors was born in Sylacauga, Alabama in 1930. He married Cadwallader in January 2013. The couple met in 1975 when Cadwallader was a Honolulu firefighter.
Nabors became an instant success when he joined “The Andy Griffith Show” on CBS in the early 1960s. The character of Gomer Pyle, the unworldly, lovable gas pumper who would exclaim “Gollllll-ly!” proved so popular that in 1964 CBS starred him in “Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.” Nabors’ operatic voice also made him a favorite in Las Vegas and other showplaces.
He was also known for singing “Back Home Again in Indiana” prior to the start of the Indianapolis 500 auto race each year for decades, starting in the early 1970s until his final performance in 2014.
(Copyright 2017 The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
