Carol Burnett and Jim Nabors: How their relationship started!

Onscreen admiration turned to real-life friendship

February 6, 2025, 12:05PM By MeTV Staff

The Everett Collection

By seemingly all accounts, Jim Nabors was a very nice man. Every article or interview about the guy reveals a humble, lovely person who was startled by his fame and fortune. While he was much smarter than his onscreen persona, Nabors shared Gomer Pyles' good-naturedness and optimism.

Take, for instance, the 1968 conversation he had with Marci McDonald, a staff writer for The Toronto Star. This printed feature centers on how nice Jim Nabors was, focusing on what made him different from other millionaire actors.

For instance, McDonald makes a point to note that Nabors never swore, smoked, or drank— save for the very occasional glass of wine.

"It's not that I don't like it," said Nabors, "it's just that I don't particularly care for the taste."

Apparently, Nabors also differed from his Hollywood set in that he never went out during the week. Instead, he'd go straight home after a day's work to memorize his lines for his next episode.

On the weekends, though, Nabors was a bit more extroverted and spent a load of time with his friends. The article notes that he'd often spend his Sundays sitting on the bench with the Los Angeles Rams because he was friends with all the players.

But his most written-of friendship was that with Carol Burnett, a lifelong confidant who Nabors admired before they knew each other. By the time of the '68 article, Nabors made a habit of taking Burnett and her husband out for dinner every Friday when she finished taping her show.

As for how the friendship began, Nabors states it all came from a fan letter. Burnett wrote to him after his first few episodes on The Andy Griffith Show.

"When I got [the letter], I thought somebody was puttin' me on," Nabors recalled. "It wasn't until later when I met her in New York that she told me it was for real."

Their friendship is immortalized on TV, as each star visited the other's programs for years to come.