Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV News
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsEmmysHalloween PicksScary Good HorrorHispanic Heritage MonthMAMISTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • Language
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Use app
  • Biography
  • Awards
  • Trivia
  • FAQ
IMDbPro

Jim Nabors(1930-2017)

  • Actor
  • Producer
  • Music Department
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Jim Nabors c. 1970
Official Trailer
Play trailer1:23
Stroker Ace (1983)
3 Videos
99+ Photos
Tall, spade-jawed, hopelessly genial balladeer/actor Jim Nabors was born in James Thurston Nabors on June 12, 1930 in Sylacauga, Alabama and raised there, graduating from the University of Alabama. A typing clerk at the United Nations in his salad days, he eventually moved to Los Angeles, California on account of 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 this 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 1960s 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 sitcom. 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 Vince Carter (played terrifically by the late Frank Sutton). The sitcom 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. 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. A decade later, he returned to the format hosting The Jim Nabors Show (1978), which was short-lived but earned him a daytime 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 -- Texasin paras pikku porttola (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 declining 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.

On January 15, 2013, the 82-year-old Nabors came out as gay 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. The 87-year-old died of an immune disorder on November 30, 2017.
BornJune 12, 1930
DiedNovember 30, 2017(87)
BornJune 12, 1930
DiedNovember 30, 2017(87)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
  • Awards
    • 3 wins & 4 nominations

Photos112

Rock Hudson and Jim Nabors in Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed (2023)
Jim Nabors, Ralph Helfer, and Betty White in The Pet Set (1971)
Jim Nabors, Ruth Buzzi, Jarrod Johnson, Alice Playten, and The Krofft Puppets in The Lost Saucer (1975)
Jim Nabors, Ruth Buzzi, Jarrod Johnson, Phil Leeds, Alice Playten, and The Krofft Puppets in The Lost Saucer (1975)
Jim Nabors, Ruth Buzzi, Jarrod Johnson, Alice Playten, and Stanley Ralph Ross in The Lost Saucer (1975)
Jim Nabors and Ruth Buzzi in The Lost Saucer (1975)
Jim Nabors, R.G. Brown, and Ruth Buzzi in The Lost Saucer (1975)
Jim Nabors and Carole Mallory in The Lost Saucer (1975)
Jim Nabors, Andy Griffith, and Don Knotts in The Andy Griffith Show (1960)
Jim Nabors, Andy Griffith, and Charles Thompson in The Andy Griffith Show (1960)
Loni Anderson, Jim Nabors, and Dana Ivey in Easy Street (1986)
Jim Nabors, Ruth Buzzi, Jarrod Johnson, Alice Playten, and The Krofft Puppets in The Lost Saucer (1975)

Known for:

Jim Nabors and Frank Sutton in Gomer Pyle: USMC (1964)
Gomer Pyle: USMC
7.0
TV Series
  • Pvt. Gomer Pyle
Ron Howard, Frances Bavier, and Andy Griffith in The Andy Griffith Show (1960)
The Andy Griffith Show
8.4
TV Series
  • Gomer Pyle
Burt Reynolds and Loni Anderson in Stroker Ace (1983)
Stroker Ace
4.9
  • Lugs
  • 1983
Dolly Parton, Burt Reynolds, and Dom DeLuise in Texasin paras pikku porttola (1982)
Texasin paras pikku porttola
6.0
  • Deputy Fred
  • 1982

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Actor

  • The Carol Burnett Show (1991)
    The Carol Burnett Show
    8.3
    TV Series
    • Skit Characters
    • 1991
  • Julie Benz, Peter Hans Benson, Charlotte Booker, Stephen C. Bradbury, Susan Cella, Danny Gura, and Eric Kushnick in Hi Honey, I'm Home (1991)
    Hi Honey, I'm Home
    6.9
    TV Series
    • Gomer Pyle
    • 1991
  • James Cromwell, Loni Anderson, Jack Elam, Dana Ivey, and Lee Weaver in Easy Street (1986)
    Easy Street
    6.9
    TV Series
    • Jim Nabors
    • 1986
  • Sylvan in Paradise
    4.2
    TV Movie
    • Sylvan Sprayberry
    • 1986
  • Don Knotts in Return to Mayberry (1986)
    Return to Mayberry
    6.9
    TV Movie
    • Gomer Pyle
    • 1986
  • Marilu Henner, Shirley MacLaine, Burt Reynolds, Dom DeLuise, Dean Martin, Telly Savalas, Sammy Davis Jr., and Jamie Farr in Kanuunankuularalli 2 (1984)
    Kanuunankuularalli 2
    5.0
    • Pvt. Homer Lyle
    • 1984
  • Burt Reynolds and Loni Anderson in Stroker Ace (1983)
    Stroker Ace
    4.9
    • Lugs
    • 1983
  • Dolly Parton, Burt Reynolds, and Dom DeLuise in Texasin paras pikku porttola (1982)
    Texasin paras pikku porttola
    6.0
    • Deputy Fred
    • 1982
  • Fred Grandy, Bernie Kopell, Ted Lange, Gavin MacLeod, and Lauren Tewes in Lemmenlaiva (1977)
    Lemmenlaiva
    6.2
    TV Series
    • Wayne Bouton, the valet
    • Robert Tanner
    • 1977–1981
  • Carol Burnett in The Carol Burnett Show (1967)
    The Carol Burnett Show
    8.7
    TV Series
    • Guest - Various Characters
    • Court Stenographer
    • 1969–1977
  • The Krofft Supershow (1976)
    The Krofft Supershow
    7.4
    TV Series
    • Fum (segment: The Lost Saucer)
    • 1976
  • Jim Nabors, Ruth Buzzi, Jarrod Johnson, and Alice Playten in The Lost Saucer (1975)
    The Lost Saucer
    6.7
    TV Series
    • Fum
    • 1975
  • The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour (1971)
    The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour
    7.1
    TV Series
    • Various Characters
    • 1974
  • Kate Jackson, Georg Stanford Brown, Sam Melville, and Michael Ontkean in The Rookies (1972)
    The Rookies
    6.8
    TV Series
    • Corley Curlew
    • 1973
  • The 5th Dimension Special: An Odyssey in the Cosmic Universe of Peter Max (1970)
    The 5th Dimension Special: An Odyssey in the Cosmic Universe of Peter Max
    TV Movie
    • Jim Nabors
    • 1970

Producer

  • Jim Nabors in The Jim Nabors Show (1978)
    The Jim Nabors Show
    5.0
    TV Series
    • executive producer
    • 1978

Music Department

  • Pidä huolta heilastani (1957)
    Pidä huolta heilastani
    5.6
    • vocal arranger (uncredited)
    • 1957

Videos3

MeTV Promo Trailer
Trailer 0:31
MeTV Promo Trailer
Stroker Ace
Trailer 1:23
Stroker Ace
The Carol Burnett Show: Show 803
Trailer 1:53
The Carol Burnett Show: Show 803

Personal details

Edit
  • Official site
    • Official Site
  • Height
    • 1.85 m
  • Born
    • June 12, 1930
    • Sylacauga, Alabama, USA
  • Died
    • November 30, 2017
    • Honolulu, Hawaii, USA(immune system deficiencies)
  • Spouse
    • Stanley Don CadwalladerJanuary 15, 2013 - November 30, 2017 (his death)
  • Children
    • No Children
  • Other works
    Album: "The Jim Nabors Hour - Tomorrow Never Comes" (Columbia Records)
  • Publicity listings
    • 3 Articles
    • 1 Pictorial
    • 2 Magazine Cover Photos

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    He said that it has always been difficult for him to watch the opening of Gomer Pyle: USMC (1964) because many of the Marines that he is seen marching with were killed in Vietnam.
  • Quotes
    I think this story sums up my career the best. One time I was walking in an airport somewhere and I saw this woman with her young son. The son looked up at me and it was obvious that he recognized me. He thought for a second and he said 'Mom, there goes an old Gomer!'
  • Trademarks
      The role of Gomer Pyle on The Andy Griffith Show (1960) and Gomer Pyle: USMC (1964).

FAQ12

Powered by Alexa
  • When did Jim Nabors die?
  • How did Jim Nabors die?
  • How old was Jim Nabors when he died?

Related news

Contribute to this page

Suggest an edit or add missing content
  • Learn more about contributing
Edit page

More to explore

Production art
List
The Best New Shows and Movies in November
See our picks
Production art
Photos
Radical On-Screen Transformations
See the gallery

Add demo reel with IMDbPro

Demo reel thumbnail
Make your IMDb page stand out by adding a demo reel
Upload your demo reel

Add demo reel with IMDbPro

Make your IMDb page stand out by adding a demo reel
Upload your demo reel
Demo reel thumbnail

How much have you seen?

Keep track of how much of Jim Nabors’s work you have seen. Go to your list.

Recently viewed

Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
Get the IMDb App
Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
  • Get the IMDb App
  • Help
  • Site Index
  • IMDbPro
  • Box Office Mojo
  • IMDb Developer
  • Press Room
  • Advertising
  • Jobs
  • Conditions of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Your Ads Privacy Choices
IMDb, an Amazon company

© 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.