Jim Nabors, who played the beloved character of Gomer Pyle on the 1960’s hit comedy, “The Andy Griffith Show,” has come out as gay and announce he recently married his partner of 38 years. Nabors’ character was so popular he was given a spin-off, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
“Nabors, 82, said he married his companion of 38 years, Stan Cadwallader, who’s 64, in Seattle on Jan. 15,” an exclusive in Hawaii News Now reports:
“I’m 82 and he’s in his 60s and so we’ve been together for 38 years and I’m not ashamed of people knowing, it’s just that it was such a personal thing, I didn’t tell anybody,” Nabors said. “I’m very happy that I’ve had a partner of 38 years and I feel very blessed. And, what can I tell you, I’m just very happy.”
Nabors said he and Cadwallader traveled to Washington state, where gay marriages became legal in early December 2012. They were married at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel in Seattle.
A judge performed the marriage ceremony in the privacy of their hotel room with a couple of friends who live down the street from them near Diamond Head as witnesses, Nabors said.
Before they were married, Nabors said, “It’s pretty obvious that we had no rights as a couple, yet when you’ve been together 38 years, I think something’s got to happen there, you’ve got to solidify something. And at my age, it’s probably the best thing to do.”
Nabors said he met Cadwallader in 1975 when Cadwallader was a Honolulu fire fighter. He eventually went to work for Nabors and they began a relationship.
Nabors has no plan to get involved in the gay marriage debate.
“I’m not a debater. And everybody has their own opinion about this and actually I’m not an activist so I’ve never gotten involved in any of this,” Nabors said.
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When he worked full-time in Hollywood in the 1960s and 1970s, Nabors said he was open about his homosexuality to co-workers and friends but never acknowledged it to the media until now.
“I haven’t ever made a public spectacle of it. Well, 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,” Nabors said.
“This is really no big deal. My friend and I, my partner, we went through all of this 38 years ago,” Nabors added. “So I mean, we made our vows and that was it. It was to each other, but nevertheless, we were a couple.”
Hawaii News Now – KGMB and KHNL
Hat tip: Towleroad