By Mike Kinney
Richmond’s beloved television comedy actor and stand-up Comedian Ron Schell of ‘Gomer Pyle’ fame has passed at the age of 94.
My family friend, Richmond’s own television comedy actor and stand-up comedian, Ronnie Schell has died at the age of 94 years old on June 12, 2026.
Schell was best remembered for being on the Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. television show, where he played the part of Private Duke Slater, Gomer Pyle’s best friend. The series ran from 1964 to 1969 on CBS.
I can remember in back in 1968 when I was 15 years old, my cousin and I saw Ronnie in front of his parents’ home, and he showed us his wedding photos when got married and Jim Nabors who played the part of Gomer Pyle was his best man at the Schell wedding.
Schell graduated from Richmond Union High School (Richmond High School) in 1949 then studied at San Francisco State University. Schell served for 4 years in the U.S. Air Force when he graduated from high school. That’s where discovered he had a gift for comedy by entertaining his USAF buddies.
He would eventually get national recognition when he played Private Duke Slater on the Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. I remember seeing him in the late 1980s and he was busy pursuing his stand-up comedy career in Las Vegas for close to forty years. He used to tell people he was the ‘Slowest Rising Comedian’ in show business.
Ronnie was a resident of Los Angeles and would return to Richmond occasionally to work on several projects with John Ziesenhenne, owner of M.A. Hays Insurance in Richmond .
Ziesenhenne said: ” Ronnie has not lived in Richmond for many decades, but Richmond never left him; he had Richmond in his blood. He published a quartly newsletter called the Spanker, to keep his Richmond High classmates in know of what was going with their alumni. I can fondly recall back in 2014, when Ronnie and some other comedians did a two-night fundraiser for the Richmond Museum that was totally sold-out in Point Richmond. He was a native Richmonder that made all of us stand tall in Richmond. He was part of Richmond history and Richmond High’s.”
Editor’s Note: This story was contributed by Mike ‘Racoon Eyes’ Kinney, a longtime local journalist and community activist who passed away on August 17.