"Jim Nabors’ Impossible Dream"
9 p.m. Saturday on KGMB, repeats 9 p.m. Nov. 22 on KHNL
Jim Nabors, actor and recording star, struts his story in the biographical documentary, "Jim Nabors’ Impossible Dream," which will air twice on TV this month.
How you know and remember Nabors depends on when and how he entered your life.
To the TV viewer, Nabors was "Gomer Pyle: USMC," the genial bumpkin of a Marine private. It’s his iconic show and character, spun off from "The Andy Griffith Show," and Nabors has made the character’s "Gollee" utterance throughout his life, even at age 85.
If you collected Columbia LPs (that’s vinyl long-playing records, for the younger generation), he recorded more than 30.
On his CBS variety show, he was a belter and "Impossible Dream" was his trademark song, then and still.
In the late 1970s, you might have seen his Polynesian revue at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Dome , where he sang hapa-haole songs and ballads, or you may have caught his act as a Las Vegas casino headliner.
With such a varied past, Honolulu director Phil Arnone had to search and scramble to locate sound bytes, video footage or musical footage to tell Nabors’ story.
"Getting ‘Gomer’ footage was a real challenge. CBS owns the rights and there are some restrictions that forced us to limit the use of Pyle video," said Arnone.
Arnone lucked out when he caught up with Nabors’s pal Carol Burnett in Los Angeles while she was there taping additional footage for her release of the "lost episodes" of "The Carol Burnett Show" DVD set.
The TV legend was happy to talk about the man behind Gomer Pyle.
The show, written by John Pennybacker, filmed by Jeff DePonte and edited by Lawrence Pacheco, is narrated by Dan Cooke of Hawaii News Now.
Among the names and faces to look for:
>> Two former governors: George Ariyoshi and Ben Cayetano.
>> Local entertainers: Jimmy Borges, who got a personal assist and consul from Nabors when he had liver cancer (the singer, who was a staple at the 1977-2008 Christmas revue "A Merry Christmas with Friends and Nabors" at the Hawaii Theatre, delivers an eloquent intro to the special); Karen Keawehawaii, a Nabors friend on and off stage; Kimo Kahoano, who choreographed Nabors’ Hilton show; and pianist Ginny Tiu.
>> Nabors’ physician — Dr. Ken C. Arakawa, who has traveled with his patient to the Indy 500 races.
>> Marine Corps officers: retired Lt. Gen. H.C. "Hank" Stackpole; and retired Gen. James F. Amos, former Marine Corps commandant.
>> Nabors’ partner-turned-husband: Stan Cadwallader married Nabors in Seattle in 2013.
Another legacy: Nabors traveled to the Indy 500 auto races in Indiana, where he belted out "Back Home in Indiana" 35 times since 1972 — the last time was in 2014 — to begin the festivities.
If you grew up in his birth state of Alabama, you would know that he was a fantastic and popular jitterbugger, because, as his sis, Ruth, says, "All the other boys had two left feet."
RayCom, which owns Hawaii News Now, also has stations in Alabama and other Southern markets, so "Impossible Dream" will give Nabors’ neighbors back home a peek.
