(CNN) — Actor Jim Nabors is now a married man.
CNN affiliate KHNL Hawaii News Now reports that the “Gomer Pyle: USMC” star tied the knot with his longtime partner, Stan Cadwallader, in Seattle on January 15.
Nabors, a Hawaii resident, told KHNL that he’d been open about his sexuality with co-workers and friends when he worked in Hollywood on popular programs from the ’60s and ’70s like “The Andy Griffith Show” and “The Love Boat.”
The 82-year-old met Cadwallader, 64, in 1975 when Cadwallader was working as a firefighter in Honolulu. They’ve been together for 38 years.
“I haven’t ever made a public spectacle of it. Well, I’ve known since I was a child, so, come on. It’s not that kind of a thing. I’ve never made a huge secret of it at all,” Nabors told KHNL. “I’m not ashamed of people knowing, it’s just that it was such a personal thing, I didn’t tell anybody … I’m very happy that I’ve had a partner of 38 years and I feel very blessed. And, what can I tell you, I’m just very happy.”
The pair wed in their hotel room at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel in Seattle, with a few friends there as witnesses.
“It’s pretty obvious that we had no rights as a couple, yet when you’ve been together 38 years, I think something’s got to happen there, you’ve got to solidify something,” Nabors said. “And at my age, it’s probably the best thing to do.”
