Some of our fondest memories even when we are grown up are those from our childhood. Many of these memories contain people who were heroes to us during this time or are connected to events important to us while growing up.
I recently saw the notice of death of an actor who played a character on a once-popular 1960s television show who was to me a hero in my childhood. This was Jim Nabors, who died Nov. 30, 2017, at the age of 87.
Nabors portrayed the character Gomer Pyle on the television shows “The Andy Griffith Show” and later on “Gomer Pyle USMC,” programs I still watch faithfully to this day in reruns. Nabors was once a major star, but his death passed without much public fanfare.
Even as adults, we can project all the good things we want on a television personality and believe them to be everything we want them to be. Most likely this is not a true picture of the person we idealize. I once read that Cary Grant said, “I wish that I could be like Cary Grant.” I suppose he was referring to how the Cary Grant on screen appeared to people as opposed to the real Cary Grant.
I imagine John Wayne faced this same dilemma. The John Wayne on screen could do everything right and be noble while the real John Wayne had faults and could not solve every injustice by being tough. In more recent times, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger may face this from fans. We all know that their personal lives are far from perfect.
I was a fan of “Gomer Pyle USMC” even before I started kindergarten in August 1971. “Gomer Pyle USMC” ran on CBS television from 1964 to 1969 as a first-run series for 150 episodes.
After it was canceled, reruns of the show ran on CBS daytime for a period of time, which is when I first remember seeing the show. When I was older, I realized that the Gomer character also was portrayed in 23 episodes of “The Andy Griffith Show.” My family watched reruns of “The Andy Griffith Show” every week night at 6:30 p.m. for decades.
The Gomer character must have originated in Andy Griffith’s movie, “No Time For Sergeants,” from 1958. Will Stockdale and Gomer Pyle are similar. The Independent Movie Database describes the Stockdale character as “a country bumpkin drafted into the Air Force and too dumb to realize he’s driving everyone around him crazy.”
The pilot for “Gomer Pyle USMC” was one of the episodes of “The Andy Griffith Show.” I think that this episode is hilarious, especially when Gomer sings the “Marines’ Hymn” with a bucket on his head, which Sargent Carter ordered as a way to humiliate Gomer but in reality he seems to enjoy.
My dad has told me often how my Grandfather Wood laughed loudly when he saw this episode, so my sense of humor must be like my own grandpa’s.
I used to watch “Gomer Pyle USMC” every weekday afternoon before I began attending kindergarten. In those days, kindergarten in Iowa lasted only half a day. We even had to have quiet time and lay on our mats.
I remember when the topic of all-day kindergarten came to Perry in the 1990s. The Perry school system was holding half-day kindergarten classes while St. Patrick’s School was holding all-day kindergarten classes. This was one of the few issues that ever drew large numbers of people to school board meetings.
Ultimately, all-day kindergarten came to Perry. It really boiled down to having it all day more for child-care reasons and saving families costs than it did about improving the learning experience, but those are valid reasons.
I began half-day kindergarten in August 1971. For the first half of the year, I attended morning classes and for the second half of the year, I attended the afternoon session. My mother said I was mad about this change because I would not be able to watch “Gomer Pyle USMC.”
Ultimately, I passed kindergarten and went on to other grades, sometimes with struggles.
“The Andy Griffith Show played in reruns in our area on KCRG TV channel 9 for decades. My parents still watch it on MeTV.
“Gomer Pyle USMC” more or less disappeared from my life after I started afternoon kindergarten. For a couple of brief periods, channel 9 ran it in the afternoons. I used to love to go to my cousin’s house in St. Paul, Minn., because they played the show there.
I used to see in the television listings during my junior high and high school years that the show played on WTBS, but we never had cable TV in our household.
Nabors was also a great singer, and he had a variety show called “The Jim Nabors Hour” from 1969 to 1971 on CBS. I remember seeing it as a child.
When I first came to Perry, I used to record the “Gomer Pyle USMC” show on a VCR at work and take it home to watch. It played on TBS at 4:05 a.m. I was overjoyed to see it again!
As stated previously, when we are growing up we have many heroes in entertainment, sports or other areas. We later realize who the real heroes are in our lives. It is the people who raised and guided us.
In my younger years, I had other heroes. Bill Cosby was a hero of mine since I was a child. I knew him from “Captain Kangaroo,” “Sesame Street,” “Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids” and other TV shows.
My Aunt Emma gave me two Bill Cosby albums when I was a kid that her kids must have purchased in the 1960s. They were entitled “Wonderfulness” and “Why Is There Air?”
I loved the stories on them and later bought other Bill Cosby albums when I started to make money.
Bill Cosby later created “The Cosby Show,” which I also enjoyed. Cosby is still living but has been accused my many women of very serious wrong actions. He was recently tried on three counts of aggravated indecent assault, but the trial ended in a mistrial.
Cosby is still living.
My Aunt Emma also gave me a Smothers Brothers album. It was called, “It Must Have Been Something I Said.” To this day I do not care for this album.
Willie Stargell was a sports hero of mine. I first saw him in the 1979, when he led the Pittsburgh Pirates to an impossible World Series win against the Baltimore Orioles. In later seasons, he faced injuries and retired in 1982.
Stagell died in 2001 at the age of 61.
A few years ago, I saw one of the 1979 World Series Games on ESPN Classics. It brought back many fond memories.
Stargell’s World Series teammate Kent Tekulve was also my hero. His submarine style of pitching fascinated me. I remember that he always had a big wad of chewing tobacco in his cheek. He is still living.
The Iowa Hawkeyes punter and kick off specialist Reggie Roby was likewise a hero of mine. He had a great kicking leg, and I followed him for two seasons with the Hawkeyes. Later he played in the NFL for a number of years.
I was surprised when he died in 2005 at only 43 years of age. He was only five years older than I.
Darryl Dawkins from the Philadelphia 76ers was another great hero of mine. I was fascinated with him because he once broke two backboards doing slam dunks during NBA basketball games. He could also take on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
I loved watching Dawkins and his teammate Julius “Dr. J” Erving, once a great ABA player, during the 1980 NBA finals, which they lost in six games. This series made Los Angeles Lakers Earvin “Magic” Johnson a household word.
I also looked forward to watching NBA games on CBS Sunday afternoon basketball. Bill Russell was the color commentator. It seemed to me that these games only featured the Philadelphia 76ers, Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics. Two of these teams were playing each other on these Sunday broadcasts.
I remember that Larry Bird did not do much scoring until the end of the third quarter and fourth quarter. Then he got all of the media attention.
During my junior high days, I did play basketball. My teammates called me Doug Dawkins. I am sure this was in recognition of my lack of basketball skills. I could hardly touch the net, but I was starting center on the C team.
Poor Coach Kenneth Huelman had me for several years in elementary PE, seventh and eighth grade basketball and four years of high school track. That is a hero along with all of the other teachers and coaches.
He is still living. He must be in his 70s by now.
Again ESPN Classics came to the rescue and played one of these 1980 NBA championship playoff games. It was fun to reminisce.
Darryl Dawkins died in 2015 at the age of 58.
My Iowa Hawkeye basketball hero was number 32 Vince Brookins. I first saw him when the Iowa Hawkeyes went to the NCAA Final Four in 1980. At that time he came off of the bench, but for the next two seasons he started.
I envied Brookins long-range shooting. It was my dream to play on the Iowa Hawkeyes and be like him. He was strong and aggressive. I was not. Sadly, C team players do not usually get recruited by the Hawkeyes.
Brookins is still living.
Sometimes on Iowa Hawkeye radio broadcasts, Bobby Hansen talks about the players whom he played with. I was surprised to hear that Kenny Arnold was still living. He has had decades of issues with a brain tumor.
John Wayne was a movie hero of my family for at least three generations. My Grandmother Vest loved to watch him, and so did my parents. I watched his films for years on TV. I remember as a child watching “El Dorado” and later “The Shootist” on TV among other films.
When he died in 1979, the world went crazy nearly as much as they did for Elvis Presley, who died two years before.
ABC ran John Wayne movies every Sunday evening. Republic put out a bunch of his old movies for syndication, which KCRG TV 9 ran for years. I loved the World War II movies, such as “Sands of Iwo Jima,” “Flying Tigers” and “The Fighting Seabees.” For many years old John Wayne B westerns played on Sunday mornings. I never did care for these films.
In the 1980s John Wayne movies came out on VHS video tape. I used to save up to by a movie at least every month by mail. I remember when I graduated high school in 1985, I used some of my gift money to buy two John Wayne war movies.
I bought “Sands of Iwo Jima” for $29.95 and “The Fighting Seabees” was on sale. It was only $24.95. What a bargain! Now you can buy four John Wayne movies on DVD for less than $10. Later I bought “El Dorado” and thought this is the best John Wayne film.
Wayne died in 1979 at the age of 72.
I also admired the Ernest T. Bass character on “The Andy Griffith Show.” This was played by Howard Morris, who also directed this show along with other series, including “Home Improvement.”
Ernest T. Bass was a simple and childlike character. Andy Griffith said that they could only use this character a couple of times a year or the audience would soon tire of it. His character would dominate an entire episode, and they always used this character to perfection.
In Vinton we had a man who looked and dressed like Ernest T. Bass. My dad would hire him to haul junk. My dad would pay him to pick stuff up, and the man also sold scrap metal or other items of value that he would pick up from people. He also mowed a lot of yards.
Morris died in 2005 at the age of 85. The fate of the Vinton junk man is unknown.
I admired Briscoe Darling, who was played by Denver Pyle on a number of occasions on “The Andy Griffith Show.” Darling was another character who could only be used a couple of times per season but was great when used. Many of you will also remember Pyle as Uncle Jesse in “The Dukes of Hazzard.”
Briscoe Darling was a widowed man from the hills who had four grown sons who hardly ever spoke and a daughter that was always after Andy. The boys always played great bluegrass music and were really the musical group, The Dillards. Andy Griffith always joined in for a couple of numbers when they guest starred.
The Briscoe Darling character once stated, “If you have time to breathe, you have time for music.”
Pyle died in 1997 at the age of 77.
One of my high school heroes was Mr. T. His real name is Lawrence Tureaud. I loved him in the A-Team, one of my favorite shows of the 1980s. I still enjoy seeing it on reruns or on DVD.
Mr. T was tough on the outside and soft-hearted on the inside, kind of like Sgt. Carter in “Gomer Pyle USMC.” Mr. T was strong and tough as nails in a fight but kind to everyone. I loved it when the character Murdock would drive B.A. crazy to comic effect.
In 1983 I got two Mr. T dolls for Christmas. One was Clubber Lang from Rocky III, and the other was Mr. T as he dressed in the A-Team. I still have these dolls in the original boxes. They are probably worth $5 for the pair on Ebay, but they are priceless to me.
Mr. T is still living.
Throughout our lives, we have heroes in our imagination. Many of them are provided to us readymade by the commercial mass media. One of the first for me was Gomer Pyle, played by Jim Nabors. Even though Jim Nabors is not Gomer Pyle, it was always reassuring to know that he was living and that a connection to my childhood still remained.
Now Nabors is dead, and the connection is broken.
MeTV is bringing back the series for a period of time. I can watch the entire series on DVD, although some of the musical numbers have been cut out of episodes to avoid paying royalties.
Goodbye, Jim Nabors. Thank you for bringing my family and me the character of Gomer Pyle. Many happy times were lived because of you, and many others are still to come.
Everyone have a happy new year!
