God Rest Ye, Merry Gentleman

One of my favorite TV shows in the Sixties was Gomer Pyle, USMC. Jim Nabors, who died Thursday at the age of 87, played the titular character, whose innocent naïveté always prevailed over the tough-as-nails Sergeant Carter.

Gomer was a recognizable kind of American hero: a good-hearted, gentle, unsophisticated sort (not unlike Forrest Gump of a later era) who encounters a harder, more cynical modern world — in this case embodied by Southern California — and helps redeem it.

“Sheldon Leonard and his co-creators astutely chose a Southern California Marine base for their hero,” Gerard Jones wrote in his 1992 history of the American sitcom, “Honey, I’m Home!”

He added: “In various episodes Gomer connected with the movie and TV industries, the music business, the surf scene, the Beverly Hills rich — all the easy symbols of modernity. Everywhere he went he left a trail of fond smiles and innocence — at least temporarily — restored.”

It was easy for kids to identify with Gomer, whose bumbling caused him to be yelled at by Sgt. Carter. Somehow Gomer always triumphed in the end, but that wasn't his only super-power. In one or two episodes per season Jim Nabors unleashed a powerful baritone that incongruously coexisted with a high-pitched (for a male) speaking voice.

After television Jim Nabors had a second career as a singer. He moved to Hawaii in 1976 and lived with Stan Cadwallader, whom he married in 2013. He kept a low profile, never speaking on controversial topics and giving generously of his time, treasure, and talents. R.I.P.

In the spirit of the season below is the 79-year-old Nabors singing "Silent Night" with the Marine Corps band in Hawaii.