Posted on 11/30/2017 11:22:42 AM PST by Eleutheria5
Jim Nabors, who gave popular culture its most enduring image of a wide-eyed, good-natured if none too bright hayseed in a character whose very name – Gomer Pyle – would become synonymous with lovable rube, died Thursday in Hawaii. He was 87.
Nabors’ husband, Stan Cadwallader...
With catchphrases “Shazam!” and “Gollllly!” (the latter drawn out to four or five lilting syllables), Nabors debuted his downhome, gas station attendant character in 1962 on The Andy Griffith Show, where the slow-going, dim-witted Gomer was a constant irritation to Don Knotts’ officious, high-strung Deputy Barney Fife.
The Gomer character, and Nabors’ odd-couple chemistry with Knotts, proved so popular with audiences that he was given his own spin-off series in 1964. Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C, co-starring Frank Sutton as his ever-yelling drill sergeant Vince Carter (“I can’t heeearrrr youuu!”) ran until 1969 on CBS. (The Gomer character was replaced on Andy Griffith with cousin Goober Pyle, played by George Lindsey in a Jughead-style cap).
Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. was an instant smash when it debuted in September 1964. The series finished No. 3 among all primetime shows that season with a 30.7 rating –- ahead of Andy Griffith – and was No. 2 behind Bonanza for the following 1965-66 season. The series slipped in the ratings after its move from Fridays to Wednesdays for the 1966-67 season, but CBS returned Gomer Pyle to Fridays the following season and it ranked No. 3 and No. 2 in primetime during the next two seasons.
Nabors’ comic persona, with his natural Alabama accent stretched to a near-cartoon drawl, evaporated when switched gears to sing, utilizing a baritone that sounded both formal and trained, a dichotomy used to great effect as far back as the Griffith show.
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(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
I never paid much attention to all that Hollywood stuff. To this day, I’m convinced nobody would care about these people if they lived in a trailer in Indiana. But they are such a big part of the culture that when somebody like this passes, I start finding out. So you could knock me over with a feather. Gomer Pyle was gay? Wow!
Sutton was born in Clarksville in Montgomery County, Tennessee
Being from Montgomery County I enjoyed the ‘Vince Carter’ character Sutton played
Here’s a little known fact for ya, Sammy: The “Fun Girls” episode of “The Andy Griffith Show” (season 4, episode 27) is the only time during the run of the series in which the characters Gomer Pyle and Goober Pyle appeared together in the same episode.
Hey that was a family show and this is the Marine Corps, that means that it is a heterosexual organization. Jim Neighbors was playing a heterosexual, remember he had a girlfriend on the show, Miss Louanne Poovey....
Gooolly!
Oh, yeah, it was even rumored way back that Nabors and Hudson “got married” - which back then would not have been legal, even if it were true. Here’s the background on how the rumor got started.
https://www.nationalenquirer.com/celebrity/jim-nabors-rock-hudson-wedding-rumor
If “Miss Louanne Poovey” is not a suspicious name, I don’t know what is.
“the only time during the run of the series in which the characters Gomer Pyle and Goober Pyle appeared together in the same episode”
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Then that must also be the one where Gomer has Goober do his Cary Grant imitation for Andy. Good bit - “Judy,judy,judy”.
Anyway, we had a couple of hours to find something to eat. But I noticed a small poster. It said, 'An Evening With Don Knotts'. That was happening in one of the smaller venues in this big building.
Four of us made our way in, it was just Don Knotts sitting in a chair, talking about his life and his career, and answering questions.We eventually got found out and kicked out, but that was pretty cool.
Then that must also be the one where Gomer has Goober do his Cary Grant imitation for Andy. Good bit - “Judy,judy,judy”.
Yes it is - and what an uncanny impersonation it was! As Gomer said, if you closed your eyes, you would have thought Cary Grant was standing right there in front of you!
“As Gomer said, if you closed your eyes, you would have thought Cary Grant was standing right there in front of you!”
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Yup, classic TV moment!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blQrIySidOA
The best I ever saw Don Knots was in a horrible Disney sequel, Lady and the Tramp II. It was a typical formulaic Disney sequel. I had to watch it ‘cause the kids were all gathered ‘round the computer. Only two things saved it, Don Knots as the hapless dog catcher’s voice, in which he was brilliant, better than Barney Fife could ever be, because he was using the Barney Fife persona but no longer limited to stage props and the limits of the human body, because it was animation, and the art work was also pretty striking.
I wasn’t fooled for a minute. BTW, for a two officer force, they sure did have a lot of guns on hand.
I thought it was Cary for a minute there!
:D
Sometimes Andy would deputize a citizen, even Goober was issued either a rifle or shotgun on one episode. There were, also, a few episodes where Andy & Barney had to join a hunt for armed bad guys.
At least Mayberry wasn’t getting recycled tanks from the military!
And Barney was issued only one bullet for his service revolver, he kept that bullet in his pocket for when he needed it.
RIP Jim Nabors... You’ll be missed. He loved the Indy 500 and NASCAR, too. He used to watched both of them.
Yes, that's why I've always loved Gomer Pyle, USMC.
Sutton was supposed to be the straight man, to the bumbling goofball Gomer, but it turns out that Sgt. Carter was MUCH funnier than Gomer.
My all time favorite episode is when Sgt. Hacker bets Carter that he cant go 24 hours without yelling at Gomer.
Finally Carter can't take it anymore, and drives off into the mountains where he screams his head off.
Let me see if this will work: https://youtu.be/_pB1c5Kjxpw
See? If you had a few good ol’ boys go homo, you’d radically change the South. You all oughta be more friendly. Move to Alabama. Start wearing flannel, driving pickups with a rifle rack, listening to Rush, and cruising honkey tonks./;-D
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