It's always good to be home.
Jim Nabors
I'm far happier now than when it seemed I was on the cover of every magazine in the land.
It is often pointed out to me that, in a brief time, I have gone from unknown film editor to star of 'Gomer Pyle,' guest star in two TV specials, and a night club headliner, and that this must necessarily have wrought some deep changes in me.
When I went to Vietnam in 1971 with Bob Hope, we went to Da Nang, which was a Marine base. I just have to say it was one of the biggest thrills I have ever had.
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.
Most people thought Gomer was stupid, dumb, a real klutz. But you study him, he really wasn't any of those things. Gomer just didn't want to see bad in anybody; you could never get him mad.
In Hollywood, I was used to being on a dirty old sound stage, and the whole crew is just scratching themselves. They don't care who you are.
I visited Minnie Pearl's home down in Nashville, and I liked it so much I asked the same man to help fix up my place.
I've never considered myself an actor; I get much more immediate satisfaction singing. If you sing good, people clap. On television, you never know whether you've done well or not.
I sang in the glee club and church choir, but I never sang a solo. I never thought of myself as a singer, and that might have crossed your mind, too.
My life hasn't been the norm. The most interesting parts are before I got into show business.
People I knew in high school have gone in many directions, as I have gone in my particular direction. They now have different and absorbing interests of their own, just as I have mine.
One thing I've learned is when you find a best friend in this life, you better hang on.
After I sang 'Back Home In Indiana' the first time, I became a Hoosier.
I was smart or lucky or both. I saved my money. I was on TV for 10 years, and then I spent eight more years on the road. Working on the road is where you really can save money if you put your mind to it.
I really never watched myself on TV.
I had a liver transplant, then I had a pacemaker put in, then I had a new knee put it, then I had a heart valve put in. I'm almost brand new. I have a lot of new parts.
I've learned that just because you're successful in one area doesn't necessarily mean you'll be successful in another.
An inevitable question asked of a performer who has made a modest success of his career is, 'How has success changed you?' It's a loaded question because it automatically assumes that there has been a change. And, in a sense, the assumption is a correct one. Basically, however, most people remain pretty much the same.
Even though I've got quite a bit of singing experience, I still get nervous when stretchin' my pipes.
I'm a farmer! We have a farm that's part of the National Tropical Botanical Garden on Maui, and we raise macadamia nuts.
The businessman gets his name on a door. The star gets his name in lights. They both get their names on a parking space.
I could go on all night about my wonderful experiences.
A mother and a little boy were walking along, and I could tell the minute the recognition hit the little boy. As he walked by holding his mother's hand, he said in a real loud voice, 'Look, Mother. There goes an old Gomer Pyle.'
I started singing in college just as a fun thing to entertain.
I can perform whenever I want to, without the pressure of having to.
I guess I like to sing more than just about anything else in the world.
Kids are more rewarding than anything in life. They are the most enthusiastic, honest people in the world. And so beautiful. They look at me like an old friend.
If I can't afford a house, or afford to keep it, I don't want to have it.
Ray Aghayan told me to be more flamboyant, but I have to be me.
Life for my family was a real struggle, as it was for most in those farming communities in Alabama.
Let's face it: dancing isn't one of my strong points.
No man has more than a handful of close friends. He may find some of them early in life, some later.
I don't like the pressure of TV.
Making a success in show business is like getting a big promotion on a job. You get more prestige, more authority, more money - and you also get longer hours, more work, and more responsibility. It evens out.
It's people, not possessions, that make home for me. It's not that I get much time to entertain, or any of that, what with the television production schedule and, now, singing concerts all around the country and making recordings.
