Celebrity Nooz: Jim Nabors

Jim Nabors (Actor) as Gomer - The Andy Griffith Show

Updated: 5/13/2007

Name: Jim Nabors

Born: June 12, 1930, Sylacauga, Alabama

Claim To Fame: It was interesting to poll the office for this. I asked different people if they knew who Jim Nabors was and the young ones said no. When I asked if they knew who Gomer Pyle was they all did. So it was obvious that Gomer Pyle will always be Jim Nabors claim to fame.

Family Life: Never married, and was never known for any romantic life, fueling rumors that he may be gay. In the early 1970s, he was widely whispered to be "secretly married" to Rock Hudson. Nabors vehemently denied that Hudson was anything more than a friend, and Hudson also shrugged off the rumors, albeit less emphatically.

Info: Jim Nabors was a singer almost as soon as he could talk. He sang in his church choir, and joined the glee club in high school. He briefly worked as a typist at the United Nations in New York, but eventually drifted to California, where he worked as a film cutter at NBC by day, singing in nightclubs after hours.

He was discovered in 1962, singing at a Santa Monica nightspot called The Horn, when Andy Griffith came in for drinks. Griffith, though, was more impressed by Nabors' banter between songs than with his singing, and he asked Nabors to audition for a one-time appearance on his top-rated Andy Griffith Show.

As you know that one-time appearance turned out to be a career.

Trivia: He came close to death in 1994, but underwent a liver transplant, regained good health, and resumed his singing career.

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".

Sings "Back Home Again in Indiana" during opening ceremonies of the Indianapolis 500 yearly.

Earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from the University of Alabama.

Before he acted, he edited news footage for a local TV station.

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.

In his entire career he has put out 46 albums.

A smart businessman, Jim was one of the owners of "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C." which paid off in dividends as a popular syndicated show.

He said that it has always been difficult for him to watch the opening of "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C." because many of the Marines that he is seen marching with were killed in Vietnam.

The stretch of US Highway 280 near his hometown of Sylacauga, Alabama, has been re-named the Jim Nabors Highway.

As recently as 2000, a spokesman for Nabors denied that the star is gay, but in a 2005 article about gay stars in the St Petersburg Times, Nabors was cited as gay alongside such out icons as Robert Reed, Paul Lynde, and Charles Nelson Reilly. Nabors has voiced no objection to the Times article.

Where Are They Now: Jim lives in Hawaii, where he owns a macadamia nut farm.

He still is actively doing some singing engagement, although he has cut his schedule way back. Here are some upcoming appearances.

Mohegan Sun Casino
1 Mohegan Sun Blvd
Uncasville, CT 06382

Dates: 8 - 9 - 10 June 2007

He was honored on Friday, January 19th 2007 at "A Night of American Heroes," a patriotic musical salute to recognize individuals who epitomize the ideals of American heroism and values.

Write To Jim Nabors:
Jim Nabors
PO Box 10364
Honolulu, HI 96816

Official Website: www.jimnabors.com/

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