Airport escapades with Gomer Pyle and Frankenstein’s monster
Simple-minded Andy Griffith Show mechanic Gomer Pyle [Jim Nabors] and irascible Everybody Loves Raymond retired dad Frank Barone [Peter Boyle] were gentlemen off-screen. Need proof? Read about Three Stooges buff Scott Reboul’s dual 1995 airport encounters with the sitcom titans below.
The Scott Reboul Interview, Part Seven
On either Nov. 16 or 17, 1995, I ran into Jim Nabors in the Boston airport, with Nabors departing the city after a routine check-up related to his successful liver transplant the year prior. I was in Boston attending the 41st Annual Conference on Bioassay, Analytical, and Environmental Radiochemistry [Reboul was a Savannah River Site radiochemist who had tracked down funnymen Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Joe DeRita, and Joe Besser as a resourceful teenager].
Seeing Nabors at that instant wasn’t a complete surprise to me, as I had just heard one of the women in the luggage check-in area excitedly talking about Gomer Pyle. That caught my attention, as it was very rare to hear anyone in public talking about the Pyle character at that point in time [by 1963 Nabors had risen to fame on TAGS and jumped ship after two seasons to topline his own spin-off series, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C, which became a fellow ratings juggernaut for five additional seasons]. So when I entered the hangar for my flight from Boston to Atlanta and saw Nabors standing alone by the entrance, I immediately figured out why the luggage check-in worker had just mentioned Gomer Pyle.
I didn’t have a camera on me, nor a pen and piece of paper. Cell phones weren’t very common, and I still don’t own one today. So I couldn’t have photographed Nabors or asked for his autograph. To be honest, I didn’t really feel right about bugging Nabors in a public place, but I did want to show him some appreciation and respect as I passed him upon entering the hangar.
I just looked Nabors in the eye as I walked by and proclaimed, “Good to see you!” With a smile on his face, he responded, “Good to see you, too!” His southern accent came through such that he sounded identical to his renowned Pyle character. It made my day.
Nabors lived right across the river from me in Augusta, Georgia, during some of his college years and interned at the same Savannah River Plant where I eventually worked. During the summer of 1951 a 21-year-old Nabors briefly clerked in the SRP’s Operations Fire Protection department while staying with his aunt. He returned to the University of Alabama and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Advertising in 1952. Dreaming of a show biz career, Nabors got his first break singing on WJBF’s Today in Dixie noon variety television show broadcast out of Augusta.
On the connecting flight from Atlanta to Augusta, soon-to-be Everybody Loves Raymond papa Peter Boyle was seated directly in front of me. As it turns out, he was traveling to Augusta to film scenes in Edgefield, South Carolina, for the Disney remake of That Darn Cat.
Now, the Augusta airport is very tiny — much, much smaller than the Atlanta airport. Upon arriving in Augusta, I immediately went to the baggage claim area with about 20 other passengers and found myself standing next to the Young Frankenstein monster. Like my Nabors encounter, I did not want to be a nuisance, but I knew that Boyle was from Philadelphia — which is where I grew up — and that his dad, also named Peter Boyle, had a local kids TV show in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Pete’s Gang, with Pete Sr. as the host, showed old shorts including those of the Little Rascals.
After standing next to Pete Jr. for about five minutes while waiting for our baggage to become available, I decided to say something to him that I thought might be different from what most other fans say to him. So I looked his way and said, “Was your father Peter Boyle?” He seemed surprised by my question, paused a second, but then responded simply by saying, “Yes, he was.” Not wanting to bother him, I then responded, “I thought so,” and then walked to the other end of the baggage claim area, so he wouldn’t worry that I’d keep asking him questions.
I only saw both actors that one time. But ain’t that weird? A flight with Nabors and a flight with Boyle on the same day!
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