'Gomer Pyle' Star Touched Lives Here, Afar - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Zoneboy · 11-19-2009, 11:57 PM

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He was best known to the world as Sgt. Vince Carter from television's "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C." But long before the glitter of Hollywood came calling, Frank Spencer Sutton was just a little boy from Clarksville.

Born to Frank and Thelma Spencer Sutton on Oct. 23, 1923, Frank "Frankie" Sutton spent his early years in Clarksville, where his parents worked for the Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle and lived on Second Street.

"He and I were big buddies," said Richard Powers, now 85, of Clarksville. "We used to call him Frankie up until he was about 12, and then his mother told me he was to be called Frank from now on.

"The first time I remember seeing Frank was in the third grade. He was sitting at a desk and holding another one. I didn't know why in the world he was holding it for, but it was for me. I'm sure we had played together and stayed together a lot before that," Powers said.

When Frank Sutton was 13, his father died of complications from an intestinal ailment. He and his mother moved to Nashville. His mother later married Lucian Bernard "Shep" Sheppard, a proofreader for the Nashville Banner.

It was there he began acting, first at Nashville's East High School and other small community playhouses. Sutton initially tried to join the Marines but was unable to pass the physical due to an injury he incurred as a boy, leaving him with a condition where one arm bent back too far at the elbow.

"He was trying to run away a squirrel," Powers said. "He climbed up on the garage and was trying to throw a rock at it and fell off and broke his arm."

Sutton instead joined the Army during World War II, where he took part in 14 assault landings including Leyte, Luzon and Corregidor.

After the war he returned to Clarksville to work at the local radio station WJZM.

"I saw quite a bit of him when he worked there," Powers said.

But Sutton's tenure at WJZM didn't end well.

"He told me his boss turned on the radio and heard nothing but air. He had fell asleep. He got fired, but that might have been the best thing that ever happened to him because that's when he went to New York to Columbia University."

"The first time I saw him he was reading a monologue from 'Hamlet,'" said Toby Sutton, now 86 and living in New York.

"It was the most thrilling moment that I'd ever had," she said in a telephone interview. "I never expected to be so impressed by a young actor. He was miles ahead of everyone else. And all the time we were at Columbia, he played all the leads in all the parts and was recognized for this enormous talent. And then I married him."

Frank Sutton graduated cum laude from Columbia University in 1952, receiving his bachelor's in drama. He and his wife, Toby, had two children, Joe and Amanda.

Joe, now 55, teaches playwriting at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H. He said it wasn't until he was 11 or 12 that he started to realize just how famous his father was, and the advantages that came with fame.

"In my house here in Montclair I have pictures in the stairway of me and my dad meeting my baseball heroes," Sutton said in a telephone interview. "My biggest baseball hero was the pitcher Sandy Koufax for the Dodgers. We were able to go out to Dodger Stadium, and there are pictures of me and my dad meeting Casey Stengel by chance and Sandy Koufax and Don Sutton — to whom we are not related — and Claude Osteen. And the reason we did that was Claude Osteen looked like Jim Nabors. And so his teammates nicknamed him Gomer."

"They decided to have a special magazine where Sgt. Carter went out to meet the Dodgers' Gomer. My dad said that he would be happy to do that as long as he could bring his son along with him. So I started to have the great good fortune and pleasure of being able to meet my baseball heroes because of my dad," Joseph Sutton said.

Making connections

During his years as Sgt. Carter, Frank Sutton traveled to Vietnam by commercial airliner (which he paid for himself) to perform his one-man act in 56 shows over eight days to audiences ranging from 18 to 1,000.

"In every unit someone would say, 'You've got to see our Gomer Pyle,' and then call out: 'Go get so and so,'" said Frank Sutton in a 1966 interview with the St. Petersburg Times.

Frank Sutton's daughter, Amanda, now 44, is a social worker in Naples, Fla.

"I guess one of the best things for me has been meeting people as an adult that knew him as an adult," Amanda Sutton said in a telephone interview. "Some of the greatest people that I have met were Vietnam veterans that my dad touched. He went over to Vietnam and entertained a lot of people in places that many other people wouldn't go.

"Just to know that he impacted and touched so many people and made so many people laugh, I guess that's really been very much a beacon in my life in terms of wanting to touch a lot of people, wanting to connect with a lot of people.

"My dad was very patriotic and he was proud of his country. He was proud of what this country stood for so he wanted all of us to walk around in red, white and blue. He loved fireworks and he loved any chance to celebrate everything. Every birthday, every good test score. If you didn't do so well then really what you had to do is try your best. And those are all things that I think my brother and I both have tried to recreate," Amanda Sutton said.

Frank Sutton's acting career spanned nearly four decades. He landed his first movie role in the multi-award winning 1955 film "Marty." He went on to appear in many other films, including the controversial "Town Without Pity" (1961), and he had several guest appearances on shows such as "Gunsmoke," "The Twilight Zone" and "The Fugitive."

"Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C" ran for five seasons, 1964-69. Frank Sutton remained close with co-star Jim Nabors and went on to star in "The Jim Nabors Hour," 1969-71.

Frank Sutton died of a heart attack in Shreveport, La., on June 28, 1974, shortly before he was to perform onstage at a dinner theater. He was 50. He is buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Clarksville.

Mr. Television · 11-20-2009, 12:08 AM

That was a great article Charles. Thanks for posting it.

catlover79 · 11-20-2009, 12:08 AM

What an awesome article - and it is so nice how warmly he is remembered by others, especially his children. What a great legacy.

Marvo301 · 11-20-2009, 12:10 AM

What a great tribute to a wonderful man! Thanks for sharing this.

tv star collector · 11-20-2009, 09:56 AM

Frank Sutton left us much too soon. Thank you for posting such an interesting article.

biffbronson · 11-22-2009, 10:33 AM

Thank you for the article!

Claude Osteen of the Dodgers really did look like Jim Nabors, from one of the photos I remember on a baseball card.

Frank Sutton also had a memorable role as a bad guy / delinquent in an episode of Naked City. Yes, it's really a shame that his life came to an abrupt end.

Vito · 12-30-2009, 11:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by biffbronson

Claude Osteen of the Dodgers really did look like Jim Nabors, from one of the photos I remember on a baseball card.

Yes, he did. My older brother had Dodgers photos all over our bedroom wall when I was a little kid, and everyone agreed that Claude Osteen closely resembled "Gomer".

Vito · 12-30-2009, 11:36 AM

And I've gotta say that Sgt. Carter was one of the all-time great sitcom characters, and it's all because of Frank Sutton.

Great article, Zoneboy -- thanks for sharing it.

Vince53 · 01-06-2011, 11:43 PM

I am amazed at how many people love the fictional Sgt. Carter and the real-life Frank Sutton.

Mr. Television · 01-06-2011, 11:48 PM

Frank Sutton was a great actor and a great person. He left us too soon.

11-19-2009, 11:57 PM	#1
Zoneboy RIP, I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU :( Moderator Forum Superstar Join Date: Jul 13, 2003 Location: AT HOME WISHING ALL THIS WAS JUST A DREAM AND THAT I'LL WAKE UP FROM THIS NIGHTMARE. Posts: 34,386	'Gomer Pyle' Star Touched Lives Here, Afar Link He was best known to the world as Sgt. Vince Carter from television's "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C." But long before the glitter of Hollywood came calling, Frank Spencer Sutton was just a little boy from Clarksville. Born to Frank and Thelma Spencer Sutton on Oct. 23, 1923, Frank "Frankie" Sutton spent his early years in Clarksville, where his parents worked for the Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle and lived on Second Street. "He and I were big buddies," said Richard Powers, now 85, of Clarksville. "We used to call him Frankie up until he was about 12, and then his mother told me he was to be called Frank from now on. "The first time I remember seeing Frank was in the third grade. He was sitting at a desk and holding another one. I didn't know why in the world he was holding it for, but it was for me. I'm sure we had played together and stayed together a lot before that," Powers said. When Frank Sutton was 13, his father died of complications from an intestinal ailment. He and his mother moved to Nashville. His mother later married Lucian Bernard "Shep" Sheppard, a proofreader for the Nashville Banner. It was there he began acting, first at Nashville's East High School and other small community playhouses. Sutton initially tried to join the Marines but was unable to pass the physical due to an injury he incurred as a boy, leaving him with a condition where one arm bent back too far at the elbow. "He was trying to run away a squirrel," Powers said. "He climbed up on the garage and was trying to throw a rock at it and fell off and broke his arm." Sutton instead joined the Army during World War II, where he took part in 14 assault landings including Leyte, Luzon and Corregidor. After the war he returned to Clarksville to work at the local radio station WJZM. "I saw quite a bit of him when he worked there," Powers said. But Sutton's tenure at WJZM didn't end well. "He told me his boss turned on the radio and heard nothing but air. He had fell asleep. He got fired, but that might have been the best thing that ever happened to him because that's when he went to New York to Columbia University." "The first time I saw him he was reading a monologue from 'Hamlet,'" said Toby Sutton, now 86 and living in New York. "It was the most thrilling moment that I'd ever had," she said in a telephone interview. "I never expected to be so impressed by a young actor. He was miles ahead of everyone else. And all the time we were at Columbia, he played all the leads in all the parts and was recognized for this enormous talent. And then I married him." Frank Sutton graduated cum laude from Columbia University in 1952, receiving his bachelor's in drama. He and his wife, Toby, had two children, Joe and Amanda. Joe, now 55, teaches playwriting at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H. He said it wasn't until he was 11 or 12 that he started to realize just how famous his father was, and the advantages that came with fame. "In my house here in Montclair I have pictures in the stairway of me and my dad meeting my baseball heroes," Sutton said in a telephone interview. "My biggest baseball hero was the pitcher Sandy Koufax for the Dodgers. We were able to go out to Dodger Stadium, and there are pictures of me and my dad meeting Casey Stengel by chance and Sandy Koufax and Don Sutton — to whom we are not related — and Claude Osteen. And the reason we did that was Claude Osteen looked like Jim Nabors. And so his teammates nicknamed him Gomer." "They decided to have a special magazine where Sgt. Carter went out to meet the Dodgers' Gomer. My dad said that he would be happy to do that as long as he could bring his son along with him. So I started to have the great good fortune and pleasure of being able to meet my baseball heroes because of my dad," Joseph Sutton said. Making connections During his years as Sgt. Carter, Frank Sutton traveled to Vietnam by commercial airliner (which he paid for himself) to perform his one-man act in 56 shows over eight days to audiences ranging from 18 to 1,000. "In every unit someone would say, 'You've got to see our Gomer Pyle,' and then call out: 'Go get so and so,'" said Frank Sutton in a 1966 interview with the St. Petersburg Times. Frank Sutton's daughter, Amanda, now 44, is a social worker in Naples, Fla. "I guess one of the best things for me has been meeting people as an adult that knew him as an adult," Amanda Sutton said in a telephone interview. "Some of the greatest people that I have met were Vietnam veterans that my dad touched. He went over to Vietnam and entertained a lot of people in places that many other people wouldn't go. "Just to know that he impacted and touched so many people and made so many people laugh, I guess that's really been very much a beacon in my life in terms of wanting to touch a lot of people, wanting to connect with a lot of people. "My dad was very patriotic and he was proud of his country. He was proud of what this country stood for so he wanted all of us to walk around in red, white and blue. He loved fireworks and he loved any chance to celebrate everything. Every birthday, every good test score. If you didn't do so well then really what you had to do is try your best. And those are all things that I think my brother and I both have tried to recreate," Amanda Sutton said. Frank Sutton's acting career spanned nearly four decades. He landed his first movie role in the multi-award winning 1955 film "Marty." He went on to appear in many other films, including the controversial "Town Without Pity" (1961), and he had several guest appearances on shows such as "Gunsmoke," "The Twilight Zone" and "The Fugitive." "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C" ran for five seasons, 1964-69. Frank Sutton remained close with co-star Jim Nabors and went on to star in "The Jim Nabors Hour," 1969-71. Frank Sutton died of a heart attack in Shreveport, La., on June 28, 1974, shortly before he was to perform onstage at a dinner theater. He was 50. He is buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Clarksville.
	__________________ 'Twas The Night Before Christmas And All Through The Full House Not A Creature Was Stirring, Not Even Mighty Mouse. All My Children We're Nestled All Snug In Their Beds While Visions Of Sugarbakers Danced In Their Heads.

11-20-2009, 12:08 AM	#2
Mr. Television 23 Years at Sitcoms Online Forum Icon Join Date: Jun 06, 2003 Location: Somewhere you're Not Posts: 62,132	That was a great article Charles. Thanks for posting it.
	__________________ Sonny

11-20-2009, 12:08 AM	#3
catlover79 God Bless Val Forum Addict Join Date: May 29, 2006 Location: Bewitched in Ohio Posts: 70,382	What an awesome article - and it is so nice how warmly he is remembered by others, especially his children. What a great legacy.
	__________________ "Jesus loves you and He approves this message." "I'm alive. I'm feeling good. I'm trying to live every moment as much as I can." - Valerie Harper, March 2013

11-20-2009, 12:10 AM	#4
Marvo301 I'm NOT a Blockhead! Forum Celebrity Join Date: May 17, 2002 Location: The Great White North Posts: 21,456	What a great tribute to a wonderful man! Thanks for sharing this.
	__________________ Only a life lived for others is worth living. Albert Einstein A life isn't worth living unless it has impact on other lives. Jackie Robinson Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man. Benjamin Franklin

11-20-2009, 09:56 AM	#5
tv star collector I Love Susie Forum 4000 Club Member Join Date: Oct 18, 2005 Location: South Carolina Posts: 4,486	Frank Sutton left us much too soon. Thank you for posting such an interesting article.

11-22-2009, 10:33 AM	#6
biffbronson Sentimental Fool Forum Star Join Date: Aug 22, 2009 Location: Near Notre Dame Posts: 10,502	Thank you for the article! Claude Osteen of the Dodgers really did look like Jim Nabors, from one of the photos I remember on a baseball card. Frank Sutton also had a memorable role as a bad guy / delinquent in an episode of Naked City. Yes, it's really a shame that his life came to an abrupt end.

12-30-2009, 11:36 AM	#8
Vito Member Forum Regular Join Date: Dec 28, 2008 Location: California Posts: 635	And I've gotta say that Sgt. Carter was one of the all-time great sitcom characters, and it's all because of Frank Sutton. Great article, Zoneboy -- thanks for sharing it.

01-06-2011, 11:43 PM	#9
Vince53 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Dec 26, 2010 Location: Chapala, Mexico Posts: 492	I am amazed at how many people love the fictional Sgt. Carter and the real-life Frank Sutton.

01-06-2011, 11:48 PM	#10
Mr. Television 23 Years at Sitcoms Online Forum Icon Join Date: Jun 06, 2003 Location: Somewhere you're Not Posts: 62,132	Frank Sutton was a great actor and a great person. He left us too soon.