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Jim Nabors was as much of a fan of Gomer Pyle as viewers were
Nabors loved Pyle.
Although Gomer Pyle can grate on the nerves at times, he really worms his way into your heart.
Granted, the character can be annoying and prone to accidents at times, but ultimately, Gomer has a very good heart, which is more of a rarity than you might think these days.
Jim Nabors, who portrayed Pyle throughout The Andy Griffith Show and his spinoff series, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., wasn't afraid of being compared to Gomer.
"I don't mind the image," said Nabors in an interview with the Toronto Daily Star. "I like it. It's a nice image to have. Gomer's a very nice person. He doesn't mean any harm to anyone, and he sees only good in people. All he really wants is to see everybody happy."
While Nabors was a talented performer, it wasn't until he made his debut on The Andy Griffith Show that he became a star. "At that time, I didn't know Jim Nabors from anybody," said Griffith, who "discovered" Nabors. "But I liked him very much and we became friends and when this little part of Gomer Pyle came up on my show, I had him down to read for it. Of course, he was so good, we wrote him right in as a regular."
But while Nabors was fully comfortable singing Gomer's praises, he admitted that as a performer, he suffered from a bit of low self-esteem. "I'd always wanted to be an entertainer, but I never made the attempt because I didn't think I had the qualifications," said Nabors. "I mean I wasn't a stand-up comedian and I wasn't the greatest singer in the world and I didn't think I was a particularly good actor and I'm not good lookin'. I got a crooked jaw and most of my life I was really, really skinny."
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