James Thurston "Jim" Nabors (born June 12, 1930 in Sylacauga, Alabama to Fred and Mavis Nabors), is an American actor, singer, and comedian. He is best known for his portrayal of the good-hearted but naïve Gomer Pyle on two highly successful 1960s sitcoms, The Andy Griffith Show and its spinoff Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.. Given his goofy demeanor and high-pitched voice on both Andy Griffith and Gomer Pyle, it was surprising to many when he revealed a strong baritone singing voice and turned it into a successful recording career.

Nabors graduated from the University of Alabama.

Nabors was also a popular guest on variety shows in the 1960s and 1970s, including two of his own (1969 and 1974). He was a favorite guest on The Carol Burnett Show and The Muppet Show, and made a couple of guest appearances in the early 1970s on Sesame Street, one in which he sang the alphabet song and another, similar one in which he sang-counted to twenty. Carol Burnett considered Nabors her lucky charm, and he was always the first guest on every new season of her show. Burnett and Nabors have long been close friends with both owning homes in Hawaii (Nabors is still a resident while Burnett's tenure was from 1975-1990). Comedian Minnie Pearl looked on Nabors as a surrogate son, and he often vacationed with her and her husband.

After allegedly contracting hepatitis after accidentally cutting his face and making himself a "bloody mess" while attempting to shave with a straight razor in India, Nabors received a liver transplant in 1994. He performs occasionally, although he prefers to operate his macadamia nut plantation in Hawaii, where he also grows tropical flowers. Jim Nabors Official Website - History

The Jim Nabors Hour was a variety television series hosted by Jim Nabors which aired on the CBS television network from 1969 to 1971.

Fresh from his success with Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., which had put his backwoods "Gomer Pyle" character which originated on The Andy Griffith Show in a military context, the show not only built on that success, including Ronnie Schell and Frank Sutton, two of Nabors' old co-stars, but also took advantage of his talented baritone singing voice, which had been used on the Pyle show on occasion and had gotten Nabors several gold records in the late 1960s.

The ever-genial Jim Nabors was born in 1930 in Alabama and graduated from the University of Alabama. A typing clerk at the UN in his salad days, he eventually moved to Los Angeles and became a film cutter for NBC. He was discovered doing a cabaret act at "The Horn," a then-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. Comedian Bill Dana saw Jim and opted for the latter assessment, inviting him to audition for Steve Allen's TV variety show, appearing a number of times. Andy Griffith too caught his silly singing "down home" gimmick as well and offered him the part of "Gomer Pyle" on his popular bucolic 60s sitcom. Jim's career took off like a skyrocket. His sheepish "gawwwleee" and bug-eyed "shazzayam" expressions became part of the American vernacular and he soon spun the character into his own series, "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C." where the bumbling, painfully naive, gentle do-gooder found himself hilariously at odds with the Marine Corps and a particularly tough Sergeant Carter (played terrifically by the late Frank Sutton). The show ran a solid five seasons and Jim became a beloved household name. Following this he focused more on singing again and recorded a number of easy listening albums with five going gold and one platinum. Jim earned a gold record for his rendition of "The Lord's Prayer." He went on to his own TV variety series "The Jim Nabors Show," and became the annual opening season guest on close friend Carol Burnett's TV variety series during her twelve-year run. Another good friend, Burt Reynolds, helped Jim make his theater debut as Harold Hill in "The Music Man" at the Burt Reynolds Dinner Theatre with Florence Henderson as his Marian the Librarian. Jim's career took a serious hit in 1994 when, after years of ill health, he was forced to have a liver transplant. He has returned to the limelight but only in spurts, enjoying the relaxing life he has in Hawaii running a macadamian nut plantation.