Gomer Pyle is a simpleminded, gentle, rural auto mechanic character played by American singer/ television actor Jim Nabors. Gomer Pyle became a character on the TV sitcom The Andy Griffith Show, when actor Howard McNear, who played Floyd the barber, suffered a stroke and took a respite from acting. Jim Nabors was contracted to play Pyle, and did so for 27 episodes from 1962–1964.[1] After two years of appearances on The Andy Griffith Show, McNear returned and Andy Griffith went to the producers seeking a vehicle for Nabors\' Gomer Pyle. In 1964 the character was spun-off in a sitcom akin to No Time for Sergeants, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.,[2] which ran until 1969.