The son of the “Queen of Country Music” spent four seasons working the radio aboard a fictional PT boat, then put 21 singles of his own on the country charts.
Bobby Wright, the actor and country singer who played Willy Moss on ABC’s World War II sitcom “McHale’s Navy,” has died at 84. He died at his home in Madison, Tenn., on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026, his family announced. No cause of death was given.
Wright “passed away peacefully surrounded by loved ones,” the family obituary said.
A Tribute to His “Gentle Soul”
Colin Lovequist wrote in a Facebook tribute to Wright: “Bobby spent his lifetime sharing his gentle soul, undeniable, and magnetic showmanship with us.”
Every Week Aboard the PT-73
“McHale’s Navy” ran from 1962 to 1966 and placed its crew aboard the U.S. Navy boat PT-73 in the Pacific during World War II. Wright, credited on the series as John Wright, played the sailor working the radio and appeared in all 138 episodes — every week of the four-season run.
The show starred Oscar winner Ernest Borgnine and launched the career of Tim Conway, later of “The Carol Burnett Show.” Wright reprised Willy Moss twice on film, in the 1964 feature “McHale’s Navy” and in the sequel “McHale’s Navy Joins the Air Force.” He was the last of the cast still living, according to his obituary.
The Screen Test That Went Nowhere
Wright came to television sideways. He screen-tested for a role as a Southern youngster who could play the guitar, and that show never moved forward. A “McHale’s Navy” producer saw the test anyway.
Acting Was the Side Job
Acting paid the bills, but Wright aimed his real ambitions at music. He gave his first professional performance at eight, playing guitar and singing with his parents on “Louisiana Hayride,” the radio show that launched Elvis Presley’s career, and he also played bass, trumpet and drums.
Wright recorded for Decca, ABC and United Artists Records from 1967 to 1979, landing 21 entries on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart. “Here I Go Again” went the highest, peaking at No. 13 in 1971. His other singles included “Lay Some Happiness on Me,” “Everybody Needs a Rainbow,” “Lovin’ Someone on My Mind,” “I’m Turning You Loose” and a country cover of Terry Jacks’ “Seasons in the Sun.”
He released two country albums, “Here I Go Again” in 1971 and “Seasons of Love” in 1974. While the comedy was still in production, he worked with his mother on one of her 1965 albums.
Raised Inside the Family Act
John Robert Wright Jr. was born March 30, 1942, in Charleston, W.Va., one of three children. His family moved to Nashville in 1958, where his parents became Grand Ole Opry headliners, and he graduated from Madison High School after playing baseball, basketball and football.
His mother, Kitty Wells, was country’s first female superstar and a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, with nearly three dozen Top 10 hits from 1952 to 1965 and the No. 1 smash “It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels.” His father, Johnnie Wright, toured the South in the act Johnnie & Jack, with Wells often performing alongside.
Wright spent years on the syndicated “Kitty Wells Family Show” with his parents and his sisters Ruby and Carol Sue, both singers. His parents retired from the road in 2007, and he toured with them until then. Johnnie Wright died in 2011 at 97. Kitty Wells died in 2012 at 92, of complications from a stroke.
Survivors include his former wife, Brenda; his sister, Carol Sue; and his children, LeAnn and Kamela. Also surviving are his grandchildren, Austin, Cassidy, Shelby and Dalton; his great-grandchildren, Hayden, Pazlee, Remi, Fletcher and Axel; and his nieces and nephews, Kitty, John Jr., David, Corrie and Stephanie.