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Jim Nabors passes

by Jonn Lilyea••30

Chip sends us the sad news that Jim Nabors who portrayed Gomer Pyle in the show of that name for five years – the Marine against whom every real Marine was measured from those days forward – has passed at the age of 87.

Although Nabors had never served, he was promoted twice as Pyle by the Marine Corps according to Wiki;

“Gomer Pyle” received an honorary promotion to Lance Corporal from the Commandant of the Marine Corps James L. Jones in 2001, and on September 25, 2007, he was promoted from Lance Corporal to Corporal by Lt. General John F. Goodman.

He was a big life-long supporter of Marines, even during the Vietnam War days when it wasn’t popular to do so.

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30 thoughts on “Jim Nabors passes”

  4. I vaguely remember SJW’s holding him up as an example of fine upstanding men and women who wanted to serve but weren’t allowed to because of their sexual orientation.

    It really burned me, because he still served his country and his fellow man and to see them try and use him like that felt disgraceful.

    1. According to his wiki page, he had asthma. Which is of more concern to most recruiters and MEPS docs.

      RIP Mr. Nabors. Loved your characters and your singing. Watching The Andy Griffith Show with my father are some of my best childhood memories.

      1. Yeah, that sounds about right for the timing. Wasn’t that when the big push for transgender in the military kicked off? Not that Nabors was transgender, but that his coming out gave some folks an example of a good and honorable man who was kept out of the service by tyrannical and outdated social mores…

        I’ll see if I can find the example I’m thinking of. It made me angry enough that I may have even posted about it on facebook…

  5. Sad to hear. We certainly enjoyed watching his “Gomer Pyle” character, but his singing was excellent as well.

  6. Thanks for giving so much Mr. Nabors. Lots of laughs and a voice compared to few. Rest in peace Sir.

        1. Yes indeed. Aaaah, the good old days when people had thicker skins and this world wasn’t so overrun with perpetually offended WUSSES!

  9. He invited one of my coworkers to his place for beers in Hawaii back in the late 70s….my coworker didn’t know Nabors was gay…until they got upstairs at which point my coworker politely excused himself and left….no one got beat up, no one was insulted and no one was harassed…just a simple misunderstanding.

    May he rest in peace.

    2. Remember when TV shows promoted real values and life lessons, without all the soap-opera drama crap…

  12. “well, surprahz, surprahz, surprahz!” Funny how two of the great ‘surprise’ singing voices, M-m-m-m-mel Tillis, and Jom Nabors, died so close together.

  13. When I was at MCRD in the early 90s we still referred to the Archway that led to the Parade feck with the Huge USMC emblem as “The Gomer Pyle Arch”.
    In the opening credits of the show they showed Gomer and his Platoon being marched by that arch, or one similar to it.

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