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George F. Hayes as:GABBY HAYES
When we think of cowboy sidekicks the first image that comes to our mind is GABBY Hayes. He was certainly one of the most prolific
George Hayes was born in Wellsville, New York on May 7, 1885. As a teen worked in a circus and later tried his hand at semi-pro baseball. He first started in show business in vaudeville and briefly on legitimate stage, primarily in stock companies.
In 1914 he married Olive Dorothy Ireland and the two would be together for over forty years, until her death in 1956. They wound up in Hollywood at the close of the silent film era, and Hayes supported her by finding bit parts and minor supporting roles. When sound films arrived, he began doing character parts.
His first major role was portraying Hopalong Cassidy's sidekick 'Windy Haliday' at Paramount. He appeared in this role for a total of eighteen Hoppy films. Then in 1939, Hayes switched to Republic Pictures and began riding as sidekick to Roy Rogers. Since Paramount pictures and the Cassidy films owned the rights to the "Windy" character he was legally precluded from using it, so took on the now famous "Gabby" stage name, and was so billed from about 1940 on. He played in a total of 41 films with Roy Rogers. He was also the saddle pal to Wild Bill Elliott in eight oaters, as well as the first two Red Ryder films. Hayes is credited with 190 sound era films, 146 of which are westerns; mainly as a sidekick to various western stars.
In real life Hayes was nothing like the cranky and crotchety old timer he portrayed on film. Offstage he was the exact opposite; serious, well read, and well dressed. He was also well liked by all that knew and worked with him. Hayes devoted the final years of his life to investments.
Gabby Hayes was well known for some of his great sayings and snips, such as:
"well howdy, buckaroos"
"yer durn tootin'!"
"young whippersnappers"
"durn persnickety female"
and lots of others.
Great Trivia: Gabby also did a stint as the host of THE HOWDY DOODY TV show, when Buffalo Bob Smith was recuperating from a heart attack.
Memorabilia, Collectables, Books, Movies, Poster, etc.
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(with 190 film credits) and most beloved (in the 1940's he consistantly ranked among Hollywood's 'Top Ten Western Stars'). If the measure of a sidekick is to be judged by the quality of the cowboy he rode with then Gabby Hayes must be counted among the very best when you look at who he starred with - William Boyd, Roy Rogers, John Wayne, Bill Elliott and Randolph Scott among many others.
In the 1950s, Gabby had his own NBC TV program, appropriately titled 'THE GABBY HAYES Show'. Hayes even had his own comic book series.