Actor Jim Nabors, born in 1930, knew he was gay from a very young age. Known best for playing goofy gas station attendant-turned-military sergeant Gomer Pyle on The Andy Griffith Show and its ensuing spin-off, Nabors experienced his time in the limelight decades before coming out to the public.
While not out to the world in his ’60s fame height, the actor was apparently never very closeted to friends and co-workers.
“I haven’t ever made a public spectacle of it,” Nabors said to Hawaii News Now. “I’ve known since I was a child, so, come on. It’s not that kind of a thing. I’ve never made a huge secret of it at all.”
In addition to his acting career, Nabors was an avid singer, releasing well over a dozen albums of standards, musical theater pieces, and multiple collections of Christmas music. Among familiar favorites like “Jingle Bells” and “Do You Hear What I Hear” are lesser-known classics like the wistfully domestic “Christmas Eve In My Hometown”.
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Nabors’ cheery, full baritone was a perfect fit for Christmas classics, as well as for some of the gayest spots in his career. He was a special friend of The Carol Burnett Show, appearing in every season premier as her good luck charm. He also played opposite Dolly Parton in the endlessly charming movie musical The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.
Even as his acting career mostly came to a close in the mid-80s, Nabors released records of both sacred and secular music as late as 2000.
Settle in for the holidays with Jim Nabors’ take on “Christmas Eve In My Hometown”:
GayEGO
I remember those days, I met my partner of 57 years in 1962 in Boston when I was in the Navy.
Chrisk
He does have a really great voice.
missvamp
he was one of those “safe” people from childhood. i knew he was gay, but i didn’t know the word. he just seemed so sweet, kind & someone non- threatening. i was terrified of most men as a kid, due to abuse. but i found gay men to be comforting. i had gadar even then.
Chris B
My fondest memories of Jim Nabors are actually from his annual gig singing “Back Home in Indiana” before the start of the Indianapolis 500 almost every year from the early 70’s to the mid 00’s.
As the article states, Jim was never all that secretive about his sexuality in the same way that other gay actors like Rock Hudson & Tab Hunter were.
I had a bunch of online racing buddies back in the early 2000’s, great guys, all straight, of course. Now these guys were HUGE Indy 500 fans and knew all kinds of weird little minutae about the race, including, apparently, that Gomer was gay! These guys had become actual friends, and when I got up the courage to come out to them, it was pretty much a non-issue, and I truly think that one of the reasons for that was their awareness that the guy who sang before the race was also gay. So, thank you, Jim!!!
Thad
Jim Nabors passed away five years ago, Nov. 30, 2017, at age 87, in his beloved state of Hawaii. RIP.
jlew64
As someone who grew up watching him on TV I never thought I’d here Gomer Pyle described as strapping!
inbama
Yes. It was hard to shake that annoying character and whiny speaking voice when looking at him.
And his “beautiful singing’ was nasal.
abfab
SURPRISE! SURPRISE! SURPRISE! inbama reveals once again what an idiot he can be.
inbama
@abfab
Why do you post under a reference to Absolutely Fabulous?
You certainly aren’t.
abfab
Carol Burnett was very fond of Jim, as was my uncle Joe, a confirmed bachelor. We watched Gomer Pyle lots together. He was unique. I think everyone was fond of him.
Diplomat
Wow amazing voice. He sounds as though he was classically trained. He was always fun to watch. “Gaaaawly!”
Merry Christmas Jim.
abfab
He got what being a goofball was all about. He werked it, didn’t he.
Diplomat
Perfectly
winemaker
Wow, sorry to hear about Jim Neighbors passing away. Time sure does fly. I rememmber seeing him on the Andy Griffith show in the 60’s and the reruns in the late 60’s. He then went on to do the sitcom Gomer Pyle, USMC. I met him in the early 80’s at a predominently gay gym ( long closed) that I went to when I was living in Los Angeles.. I did’t recognize him at first but then i realized he wss Gomer Pyle. i didn’t say anything to him thus giving him privacy,. I’d heard he dumped hollywood years ago and moved to Hawaii and then I never heard about him. Sad to hear he passed away. Hopefully he found happiness as so many gay men search for this often elusive thing and never find it. RIP Jim Neighbors!
Rambeaux
Jim lead a very full life and graced us for many years after he left Hollywood.
His tremendous talent was enjoyed by many, in many spheres, for the rest of his life.
Liver failure and a transplant slowed him down, but not much.
He left some treaured memories.
storm45701
There’s few people that can bring a smile to anyone’s face, and Jim Nabors was one of them. His friends, Dolly Parton, Carol Burnett and Andy Griffith, also come to mind. Notice they all traveled in each others’ circles. I remember my grandmother adoring him.
I’m not a Christian by any means, but Jim Nabors’ rendition of the Christmas-tinged “Go Tell it On The Mountain” is one of my faves. Full of 1960’s-era production value, the song is a full-throttle example of gospel magic.
storm45701
Oh, and for trivia enthusiasts, Nabors had a relationship and eventually married a hot firefighter, and openly took him to the Indy 500 races where Nabors sang every year; Nabors also apparently had a dalliance with Rock Hudson.
Kangol2
Nabors was a very talented singer and comedian but strapping? No.
abfab
Strapping in that sort of Jethro Clampett sorta way. I mean some guys actully thought Andy Griffith was strapping. Strapping for that time period for me was the Greek Muscle God on Mission Impossible and James West…WW West. Oh, and Flip Wilson.
abfab
Esp Geraldine.