Movie Cowboy: Gabby Hayes was the legendary sidekick who worked with Hopalong Cassidy, Roy Rogers, Hoot Gibson, Harry Carey, John Wayne, Bob Steele, Rex Bell, Tom Tyler and Randolph Scott.
The role of the comic sidekick had already been made successful by Smiley Burnette and Gabby’s career took off as well. He usually wore a plaid shirt, leather vest and tattered black hat that made him look more like a western bum than anything.
Hayes was originally a vaudeville performer and moved to Hollywood in the 1920’s where his first sound picture was “The Rainbow Man”. Oddly, he did not get cast into Westerns until he was in his 40’s. His fame came in 1939 as Roy Rogers’ sidekick in “Southward Ho” where he developed his famous line “Yur durned tootin’!” that soon became his motto. Hayes and Rogers starred in 28 films together from 1939-42. His role with Rogers was replaced by Burnette and Hayes went on to team with Wild Bill Elliott.
He made his last film, “The Caribou Trail” in 1950 when he was 65 years old. After the movie career ended, Hayes hosted a TV show for kids called “The Gabby Hayes Show”, then hosted “The Howdy Doody Show” from 1954-55 after Buffalo Bob Smith had a heart attack.