Frank Spencer Sutton

 Frank Spencer Sutton (October 23, 1923 – June 28, 1974)

Sutton is best remembered for his role of Gunnery Sergeant Vince Carter on the TV series Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. He enlisted in the United States Army during World War II, and served in the South Pacific, taking part in fourteen assault landings. After his honorable discharge, Sutton began acting on stage and moved into TV during the 1950s.Throughout that decade Sutton played small roles in television shows such as Decoy, Route 66, Naked City, The Greatest Show on Earth, The Fugitive, The Goldbergs, 87th Precinct, Gunsmoke, Target: The Corruptors, Empire, The Twilight Zone, and The Untouchables. In 1955, he received his big break in the Academy Award-winning movie Marty, in which he played the title character's friend, Ralph. Sutton's breakthrough role was on "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.", a 1964 episode of The Andy Griffith Show, in which he played the cynical and easily exasperated Sergeant Carter opposite Jim Nabors' character Gomer Pyle. This episode led to a spin-off television series of the same name, where Sutton continued the role for five seasons, until the show ended its run in 1969. While preparing for performance on June 28, 1974, Frank Sutton died suddenly from a heart attack at age 50. He is at buried Greenwood Cemetery in Clarksville, TN.