Back Home Again with Jim Nabors/Nabors Enjoys Private Life in Hawaii

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Back Home Again with Jim Nabors

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Maui - The scenery seems to get better at every turn. It's a two-hour drive through a tropical rainforest to find Jim Nabors' paradise home.

Nabors went to look at the property with Carol Burnett.

"We were just hanging out. She was climbing trees and doing her Tarzan yell. She did not think we were serious," he said.

But Nabors was serious. He bought the 500-acre retreat the next day. Thirty years later, it's now a working macadamia nut farm with 10,000 trees. Much of the property has been left to the wild tropical flowers and fruit trees.

Nabors gave Eyewitness Sports a jungle tour. He admits to walking around with a big smile on his face when he drives around the lush greenery.

"It's unbelievable," he said.

He took us to his favorite spot in the world - amid the towering palm fronds and spectacular cliffs, it was a stunning view of the Pacific surf pounding the rocks below.

"Not too bad," Nabors said, referring to the mile or so of untouched shoreline he owns. "There's a certain magic here that I've never found anywhere else in the world. Besides the Indy 500."

Jim Nabors' traditional pre-race performance of "Back Home Again in Indiana" began in 1972.

Track owner Tony Holman asked a favor from the Hollywood star who happened to be there just to watch the race.

"'Hey,' he said, 'Would you like to sing the song?'" Nabors recalled. "And I thought he meant the Star-Spangled Banner. So I said, 'Well, sure, okay.' So I got up out of my seat and followed him over. He introduced me to the band conductor and I asked what key they did this in and he said, 'We've only got one key.' And I said, 'No, no, the Star-Spangled Banner's got two.' [He said] 'you're not singing that.' 'What? What am I singing?' He says, 'Back Home Again in Indiana. Do you know that tune?' 'Well, kind of. I kind of know it.' So I wrote the lyrics on my hand, to be sure. I had no rehearsal, no intro, nothing. Just walked out there and sang it and thirty-something years later I still do it."

Since then, Nabors has missed just one race. In 2007, the fans had to sing the song as Nabors battled a heart ailment in Hawaii.

"I was lying in the hospital, and I was all by myself and it was like six in the morning, our time here, right before six, and I was listening to you. So I was lying there and they started singing the song and I started to cry. I got very emotional, not being there for thirty-something years," he said.

But that setback was minor compared to Nabors' health problems in 1994. Doctors gave him just two months to live. Nabors needed a liver transplant.

"I just said, my life's in your hands and that's it. I finally got one about - probably had less than a week left. Plus I had lost about 70 pounds of body mass, so I was going really fast. I wasn't really sure I'd ever sing again," he said.

But Nabors retreated to his special place in Maui and made a full recovery. Then it was time for his yearly appearance in Indy. He was given a second chance.

"It just made me more real in my life. This is what life's about. You can be knocked off fast and you should appreciate every day of your life no matter what's happening to you. That's all you have is today."

Now at 78 years old, Jim Nabors is still going strong. After all, Gomer Pyle can't slow down. He even did a "golLEE" for us.


Nabors Enjoys Private Life in Hawaii

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Hawaii - Morning breaks in Maui across Jim Nabors' private slice of heaven.

"It's fun. I love the lifestyle. It's what I grew up with in Alabama," Nabors says. "I love the lifestyle of this kind of place. This is absolutely paradise, it really is. Truly paradise. It's not an overused word."

For the past 30 years, Nabors has enjoyed his very private escape.

"Well, Hollywood is a different type of animal, totally. I had burned out on it when I moved to Hawaii. That kind of lifestyle was pretty heavy, so I found this magical place here and I thought, 'Well, this is it'," he says. "I also live in Honolulu, which is my main residence, and I live right on the point of Diamond Head, that's a historic spot. Then I found this place. I got double lucky."

In the 1960's and 70's, Nabors became a big hit with his character Gomer Pyle. He was discovered by Andy Griffith.

"I had never acted. I have a degree in business, so I was singing in a little nightclub and my act consisted of singing like this and talking like this," Nabors says in some of his familiar voices. "It sort of got everyone's attention. It was kind of surprising to me. Andy Griffith saw me there one night and, long story short, he invited to have me."

His famous phrases made him popular. He still remembers the first time he uttered "Goll-ee" and "Shazam!".

"We had a script reading and if we think of something to say, we can ad lib it there. But once we nailed it, we had to do it when we shoot on stage. [It was] fun for me," Nabors says. "One day I was trying to make everybody think that Gomer was really a fan of Barney's, he thought he was just the most sophisticated guy in the world. So that's where I used it, I went, 'Well, Goll-ee Barney!'."

Gomer became a household name around the world.

"It's always pretty unreal to me. I can't quite put my finger on it. I was in Malaysia, I had lunch with the king. His son came over to shake hands with me, he said, 'You Gomer Pyle?' I said, 'Yeah'," Nabors recalls. "He said to the king, 'Gomer Pyle. Ha! You're Gomer Pyle!'. He knew all the episodes. I was shocked. I was, like, 'Wow!' Gomer Pyle had been number one in Singapore."

To this day, Gomer lives on.

"It's fun. It's really been fun for me"

Gomer was just the beginning. His walls are covered with memories from his singing and acting career. The walls of the bar area in his home are covered with pictures of celebrities, including Sylvester Stallone, Dolly Parton and Tommy Lasorda. Nabors was also good friend with former President Ronald Reagan and his family.

"This particular time I was visiting, it was a national prayer breakfast, I sang 'How Great Thou Art'," Nabors says.

One of his greatest joys, however, is his annual journey to Indiana.

"Getting kind of long in the tooth, but I hang in there. I think I still sing it pretty good," Nabors says.

After more than 40 years of entertaining fans, Jim Nabors is still a humble and gracious man, enjoying life.

"Somebody asked me once what I wanted on my tombstone. 'He was a nice guy'," he said. "That's about it."