Gailard Sartain, Hee Haw And Mississippi Burning Actor, Dies At 81
Gailard Sartain, known for his roles in Hee Haw, Ernest films, The Buddy Holly Story, and Mississippi Burning, has died at 81.
Veteran actor Gailard Sartain, whose career spanned decades of television, stage, and film, including a 20‑year run on Hee Haw and memorable roles in Spider‑Man and Mississippi Burning, has passed away at the age of 81. His wife of 36 years, Mary Jo Sartain, shared the news with The Hollywood Reporter, saying he died peacefully in his sleep at his home in Tulsa, Oklahoma. 'Actually, he died of silliness," she added.
His friendship with Everybody Loves Raymond star Doris Roberts stood out as one of his most long‑lasting bonds; they lived together until Roberts's death in 2016. She even directed his play Screen Test: Take One, based on his love for soap operas.
Sartain first captured attention on local Tulsa television as Dr. Mazeppa Pompazoidi, he hosted the spooky The Uncanny Film Festival and Camp Meeting—before finding fame on Hee Haw in 1972. He stayed on the show for nearly two decades, playing everything from Orville the cook to rambling clerks.
His film résumé is vast and varied: he debuted in Nashville (1975), portrayed Jerry 'The Big Bopper" Richardson in The Buddy Holly Story (1978), and dabbled in spaghetti Westerns. On TV, audiences loved his cameos on shows like Seinfeld, Frasier, and Friends.
A key turning point came with his chilling depiction of a racist sheriff in Mississippi Burning (1988), a role he felt broke his comedy mold. 'Nobody likes to be typecast as a barefooted hillbilly… that kind of turned things around," he told the Tulsa World in 2017.
Sartain's film career included nine collaborations with director Alan Rudolph (Choose Me, Songwriter, Love at Large, and more), as well as roles under Carl Reiner in The Jerk and All of Me, Francis Ford Coppola in The Outsiders, Stephen Frears in The Grifters, and Michael Mann in Ali.
In the 1980s, he teamed up with Bill Byrge to play Chuck in Hey, Vern, It's Ernest!—a role born from local commercials and later featured in Ernest films like Ernest Goes to Camp, Ernest Saves Christmas, and Ernest Goes to Jail.
He even took on Broadway, starring in Dracula beginning in 1977, and lent his voice to creating Leon Russell's album art in 1975. But by 2005, with Elizabethtown, Sartain quietly stepped away from acting.
Survived by his wife Mary Jo, their three children – Sarah, Esther, and Ben- along with granddaughter Chloe and great‑grandson Teddy, Sartain leaves behind a legacy. The Beverly Hills Playhouse paid tribute to his memory on Instagram, writing: 'There was only ever one like this, and we are the richer for having his presence in our theatre. Rest in peace, Jack."
May his soul rest in peace!
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