Bobby Wright, McHale’s Navy Actor and Country Singer, Dies at 84

Wright’s family announced his death. Known professionally as Bobby Wright in music and credited as John Wright on McHale’s Navy, he appeared in all 138 episodes of the ABC comedy, which ran from 1962 to 1966. The series starred Ernest Borgnine, Joe Flynn and Tim Conway and followed a Navy crew in the Pacific during World War II.

Wright also appeared with the television cast in two feature films based on the series, including its Air Force installment. After the series ended, he had roles in the television shows Pistols ’n’ Petticoats and The Road West, as well as the 1974 film Catch the Black Sunshine.

His recording career ran from 1967 to 1979, with releases on Decca, ABC and United Artists. He placed 21 singles on Billboard’s country chart. “Here I Go Again” was his highest-charting song, reaching No. 13 in 1971; “Lovin’ Someone on My Mind” and “Seasons in the Sun” also made the Top 40.

He entered the world as John Robert Wright Jr. in Charleston, West Virginia, and began performing as a child with his parents, country singers Kitty Wells and Johnnie Wright. The family moved to Nashville in 1958. Wright later performed on a syndicated family show and toured with his parents and sisters until his parents retired from touring in 2007.

He is survived by his daughters, LeAnn and Kamela, four grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, his sister Carol Sue, and his former wife, Brenda, among other relatives. Wells, who died in 2012, was a Country Music Hall of Fame member and a major country star.