Augustans who stay home for Masters Week are used to seeing celebrities dining at some of their favorite restaurants. Comic actor Bill Murray and REM bassist Mike Mills are regulars during golf week, as was the late Jim Nabors. Indeed, he was a known fixture at his favorite local restaurant, The French Market Grille.
Actor/comedian/singer Jim Nabors was a regular on “The Carol Burnett Show” but is best known for his role of simpleton Gomer Pyle on “The Andy Griffith Show” and its spinoff, “Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.” Nabors also released several record albums featuring his rich baritone voice, which surprised many because it sounded so different from the squeaky sounding Gomer Pyle.
Nabors certainly loved golf, but there may have been another reason for Nabors to make his annual trip from his home in Hawaii to Augusta. Early in his career, while struggling to break through, he worked as a film cutter for WRPG television in Chattanooga, Tenn. Later, he migrated to Augusta where he lived for a time and sang in the choir at Grace Memorial Methodist Church in North Augusta. During this time, he was given a bit of a break when WJBF television gave him his television debut singing on their program, “Today in Dixie.”
Not long after his debut here in Augusta, Nabors was spotted performing at a nightclub by Andy Griffith and the rest is history. So, Gaaaawwwleeee, that’s something you might not have known!
Scott Hudson is the Managing Editor of The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
[adrotate banner=”15″]
