‘Gomer Pyle’ Star Frank Sutton Was Once Rejected by the Marines, Then They Honored Him
What To Know
- Frank Sutton was admired both for his iconic role and for his genuine kindness and integrity off-screen.
- Sutton served heroically in the U.S. Army during World War II, earning the Bronze Star and Purple Heart.
- He was deeply respected by servicemen and became an honorary Marine and naval aviator.
When thinking about Sergeant Carter from the classic Andy Griffith spinoff, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., many fans of the show are often stuck with an image of Sarge berating Gomer in one way or another. Despite all the yelling, Gomer never took it the wrong way because he knew that if one looked past all of Sergeant Carter’s bluster, there was a man with a heart of gold.
Similarly, the actor who played Sarge was a man of incredible values, full of integrity, and most importantly, just like Carter, he had a heart of gold. Frank Sutton played the cynical and easily exasperated Gunnery Sergeant Vince Carter opposite Jim Nabors‘ character, Gomer Pyle, for five seasons until the show ended its run in 1969.
That role made him famous, and he will always be remembered as Sarge. Sutton loved playing the character, whom he saw quite differently. Here’s what MeTV reported he told an interviewer during the late ‘60s: “I think I’m really a pretty gentle person. I yell around the house, sometimes at my children, but I’m too soft to spank them!… But I’ve molded that Sgt. Carter’s character. He has to be a lot like me.”
Everett Collection
Regardless of how one viewed Sgt. Carter, there was another side to Sutton that is truly inspirational. It is that story that deserves to be shared today – a tribute to the man that Sutton was off-screen, because there was a human being of great worth.
Sutton was born in the very fine town of Clarksville, Tennessee, where he developed an interest in acting early in life. By the time he was a student at East Nashville High School, he knew that he wanted to be some sort of entertainer. However, after high school, filled with a surge of patriotism, he tried to enlist in both the Navy and the Marine Corps.
Unfortunately, he was turned down for a variety of health reasons. Ever persistent, Sutton successfully enlisted in the U.S. Army and served in the South Pacific, taking part in 14 assault landings. Ironically, when Sutton left the military in 1946, he had attained the rank of sergeant in the 293rd Joint Assault Signal Company and had been awarded both the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.
During a time in the 1960s when the military was being vehemently opposed by many, Sutton made the somewhat risky decision to put on a one-man comedy show during the 1966 to 1967 season of Gomer Pyle. He did this at his own expense, traveling to Vietnam and putting on 56 shows in eight days as Sgt. Carter. Having experienced warfare himself, he wanted to bring what pleasure he could to the troops.
Sutton enjoyed the experience of giving back so much that when he returned home, he revamped the same routine and took it to troops across the United States, focusing mostly on those who had come back injured from the war.
Everett Collection
During the final three years of Gomer Pyle, Sutton was undeniably a very busy man. He spent countless weekends at military functions performing free of charge, and the servicemen, across all of the branches, loved him. Despite having been turned away from the Marines and Navy decades earlier, the Marine Corps made him an honorary sergeant, and the icing on the cake was that he was also made an honorary naval aviator with the rank of colonel in the Texas Navy.
While Sutton’s greatest role was as Sgt. Carter’s off-screen relationship with co-star Jim Nabors was also truly special, and the two were incredibly good friends. So much so, in fact, that when Nabor left Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. for a new variety show, The Jim Nabors Hour, he asked Sutton to join him.
Tragically, on June 28, 1974, Sutton suffered a heart attack while preparing to go on stage in Shreveport, Louisiana, at the Beverly Dinner Playhouse. Ever the family man, his wife, Toby, and 10-year-old daughter, Amanda, were with him while he was rehearsing. Sadly, his son, Joseph, was away at college.
Frank Sutton left us way too soon, but his story ends on a high note. In 2017, Sutton’s hometown erected a statue in honor of his life. At the time, the official Visit Clarksville website said it best, when they said that Sutton “was a patriotic man until the day he died; he proudly boasted with honor, both for his country and for his hometown.”
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