Jim Nabors

Tall, spade-jawed, hopelessly genial balladeer/actor Jim Nabors was born in James Thurston Nabors on June 12,1930, in Alabama and raised there, graduating from the University of Alabama. A typing clerk at the UN in his salad days, he eventually moved to Los Angeles due to his asthmatic condition and became a film cutter for NBC. Jim was discovered on stage doing a cabaret act at "The Horn", a now defunct but then highly popular Santa Monica nightclub. Combining his gifts for classical singing and gawky hick characterizations, his highly unique schtick was either ridiculously insane or totally brilliant. Either way it garnered him notice. Comic Bill Dana caught Jim's act and opted for the latter assessment, inviting him to audition for Steve Allen's TV variety show. Jim went on to appear on Allen's show a number of times. TV star Andy Griffith caught his silly singing "down home" gimmick as well and offered him the part of dim but lovable gas station attendant "Gomer Pyle" on his popular 60s sitcom. Jim's career took off like a skyrocket. His sheepish "gawwwleee" and bug-eyed "shazzayam" expressions became part of the American vernacular and it wasn't long before the beloved character would spin off into his own series.

Gomer Pyle: USMC (1964) was a solid hit as the bungling, painfully naive, gentle do-gooder found himself hilariously at odds with the Marine Corps and a particularly tough Sergeant Carter (played terrifically by the late Frank Sutton). The show ran a respectable five seasons and Jim solidified himself as a household name. On the downside of this TV success, Jim found himself inextricably pigeon-holed as a gullible, squeaky-clean hick. As a result he found work elsewhere, particularly in children-oriented series for Sid and Marty Krofft and Jim Henson. He also decided to refocus on his beautiful baritone voice. Recording a number of romantic, easy listening albums, five of them went gold and one went platinum. He earned a gold record for his rendition of "The Lord's Prayer". On TV, Jim became a frequent singing/comedy guest performer on all the top prime-time variety and late night shows, including "Sonny & Cher," "The Tonight Show," "The Dean Martin Show," "The David Frost Show" and "The Joey Bishop Show. " He also became the annual "good luck charm" opening season guest on close friend Carol Burnett's TV variety series during her twelve-year run.

Considered by Carol Burnett to be her "good luck charm" and as such was a guest star on each season's premiere of The Carol Burnett Show (1967).

It was enough for CBS to entrust Jim with own TV variety series The Jim Nabors Hour (1968), which ran for two seasons, featured his "Gomer Pyle" co-stars Frank Sutton and Ronnie Schell, and earned him a Golden Globe nomination.

Long-standing Hollywood gossip had Jim secretively marrying actor Rock Hudson back in the 1970s. While the two were never more than friends at this time, because of the fear that one or both of them might be "outed" and their careers destroyed, Nabors and Hudson never saw or spoke to each other again in order to help squelch the rumor.

In 1971, Jim Nabors was honored at Mardi Gras in New Orleans, LA, by accepting an invitation to be the King of The Bacchus Parade that same year. There are a broad range of recipients of this honor; for example: Kirk Douglas, Charlton Heston, Will Ferrell, James Gandolfini, Val Kilmer, Andy Garcia, Elijah Wood and Hulk Hogan, to name several.

A decade later he returned to the format hosting The Jim Nabors Show (1978), which was short-lived but earned him a day-time Emmy nomination. Another good friend, Burt Reynolds, was responsible for Jim's theater debut as "Harold Hill" in "The Music Man" at the Burt Reynolds Dinner Theatre with Florence Henderson as his "Marian the Librarian".

Jim also appeared in comic support in a couple of Reynolds' films -- The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982) and Stroker Ace (1983).

Nabors was seen on a limited basis in the early 1990s and his life took a serious hit in 1994 when, after years of ill health, he was forced to have a liver transplant. He has returned to the limelight very infrequently (talks shows and reunion shows), preferring the quiet, relaxing life he has in Hawaii and running a macadamia nut plantation.

He lives in Hawaii on property that has a working macadamia nut farm. [April 2002]

A foundation that awards grants to teachers every year named a grant in honor of Jim Nabors in 2003. The foundation is based in Sylacauga, Alabama, his home town.

On January 15, 2013, the 82-year-old Nabors made "coming out" news by marrying his life partner of 38 years, Stan Cadwallader, a retired Honolulu firefighter, at a Seattle hotel after Washington became a "same sex" marriage state a month earlier.

Sang "Back Home Again in Indiana" for 42 years during opening ceremonies of the "Indianapolis 500" , located in Speedway, In., from 1972 till ill health forced him to discontinue appearing. His final performance was May 25th, 2014. However his first appearance in 1972 was a confusing one. He thought he was invited to sing the National Anthem. But a scant few minutes before he was to perform he found out he was to sing "Back Home Again in Indiana"! In this short period of time, to his credit, (Surprise-Surprise-Surprise) he learned the melody and words and performed it flawlessly. Also as a special gesture to Jim's final performance at Indy, the starting command "Lady and Gentlemen Start Your Engines" was given together by both Mari Hulman George and Nabors, the first time a non-member of the Hulman-George family had given the command for the 500 since 1954.