George 'Gabby' Hayes

George 'Gabby' Hayes

Born May 06, 1885 (Age: 140) Wellsville, New York, USA

Biography

George Hayes is an American character actor, the most famous of Western-movie sidekicks of the 1930s and 1940s. He worked in a circus and played semi-pro baseball while a teenager. In 1914, he married Olive Ireland and the pair became successful on the vaudeville circuit. Retired in his forties, he lost much of his money in the 1929 stock market crash and was forced to return to work. He played scores of roles in Westerns and non-Westerns alike, finally in the mid-1930s settling in to an almost exclusively Western career. He gained fame as Hopalong Cassidy's sidekick Windy Halliday in films between 1936 and 1939. Leaving the Cassidy films in a salary dispute, he was legally precluded from using the Windy nickname, and so took on the sobriquet Gabby, and was so billed from about 1940. In his early films, he alternated between whiskered comic-relief sidekicks and clean-shaven bad guys, but by the later 1930s, he worked almost exclusively as a Western sidekick to stars such as John Wayne, Roy Rogers, and Randolph Scott. After his last film in 1950, he starred as the host of The Gabby Hayes Show. He died on February 9, 1969.
George Hayes is an American character actor, the most famous of Western-movie sidekicks of the 1930s and 1940s. He worked in a circus and played semi-pro baseball while a teenager. In 1914, he married Olive Ireland and the pair became successful on the vaudeville circuit. Retired in his forties, he lost much of his money in the 1929 stock market crash and was forced to return to work. He played scores of roles in Westerns and non-Westerns alike, finally in the mid-1930s settling in to an almost exclusively Western career. He gained fame as Hopalong Cassidy's sidekick Windy Halliday in films between 1936 and 1939. Leaving the Cassidy films in a salary dispute, he was legally precluded from using the Windy nickname, and so took on the sobriquet Gabby, and was so billed from about 1940. In his early films, he alternated between whiskered comic-relief sidekicks and clean-shaven bad guys, but by the later 1930s, he worked almost exclusively as a Western sidekick to stars such as John Wayne, Roy Rogers, and Randolph Scott. After his last film in 1950, he starred as the host of The Gabby Hayes Show. He died on February 9, 1969.
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Filmography

The Western: A Lost TV Special

The Western: A Lost TV Special

1958 as Self Age: 73
Ridin' Down the Canyon

Ridin' Down the Canyon

1942 as Gabby Age: 57
Heart of the Golden West

Heart of the Golden West

1942 as Gabby Age: 57
Sunset Serenade

Sunset Serenade

1942 as Gabby Age: 57
Sons of the Pioneers

Sons of the Pioneers

1942 as Gabby Whittaker Age: 57
Romance on the Range

Romance on the Range

1942 as Gabby Age: 57
Sunset on the Desert

Sunset on the Desert

1942 as Gabby Whittaker Age: 56
South of Santa Fe

South of Santa Fe

1942 as Gabby Whittaker Age: 56
Man from Cheyenne

Man from Cheyenne

1942 as Gabby Whittaker Age: 56
Red River Valley

Red River Valley

1941 as Gabby Whittaker Age: 56
Jesse James at Bay

Jesse James at Bay

1941 as Sheriff Gabby Whitaker Age: 56
Bad Man of Deadwood

Bad Man of Deadwood

1941 as Prof. Mortimer 'Gabby' Blackstone Age: 56
Nevada City

Nevada City

1941 as Gabby Chapman Age: 56
Sheriff of Tombstone

Sheriff of Tombstone

1941 as Gabby Age: 56
In Old Cheyenne

In Old Cheyenne

1941 as Arapaho Brown Age: 55
Robin Hood of the Pecos

Robin Hood of the Pecos

1941 as Gabriel Gabby Hornaday Age: 55
The Fighting Champ

The Fighting Champ

1932 as Pete Age: 47
Self Defense

Self Defense

1932 as Jury Foreman Age: 47
Wild Horse Mesa

Wild Horse Mesa

1932 as Slack Age: 47
Texas Buddies

Texas Buddies

1932 as Si Haller Age: 47
Hidden Valley

Hidden Valley

1932 as Gavin Henchman - Dark Hat Age: 47
Broadway to Cheyenne

Broadway to Cheyenne

1932 as Walrus Age: 47
Klondike

Klondike

1932 as Tom Ross Age: 47
The Night Rider

The Night Rider

1932 as Altoonie Age: 47
Love Me Tonight

Love Me Tonight

1932 as Grocer (uncredited) Age: 47
No Image

A Slip at the Switch

1932 as Deputy Smoot Age: 47
Winner Take All

Winner Take All

1932 as Interne at Rosario Ranch (uncredited) Age: 47
The Boiling Point

The Boiling Point

1932 as George Duncan Age: 47
The Man from Hell's Edges

The Man from Hell's Edges

1932 as Shamrock Cassidy Age: 46
Riders of the Desert

Riders of the Desert

1932 as Hashknife Brooks Age: 46
Border Devils

Border Devils

1932 as Squint Sanders Age: 46
Play Girl

Play Girl

1932 as Dance Hall Tobacconist (uncredited) Age: 46
Sally of the Subway

Sally of the Subway

1932 as Police Lieutenant Paxton Age: 46
Oklahoma Jim

Oklahoma Jim

1931 as Crooked Gambler Age: 46
God's Country and the Man

God's Country and the Man

1931 as Stingaree Kelly Age: 45