Gailard Sartain, who was beloved to country music fans as a longtime star of Hee Haw, has died.
Tulsa World reports that the actor, comedian and illustrator died on July 17, 2025.
Born in Tulsa in 1946 as the son of the city’s fire chief, Sartain launched his performing career there by working as a cameraman at a local TV station.
According to KJRH in Tulsa, that led to him creating an unusual late-night comedy program titled The Uncanny Film Festival and Camp Meeting, which he hosted in wizard garb as a character named Dr. Mazeppa Pompazoidi. The cast of the show also featured another Tulsa native named Gary Busey, who would go on to a very successful acting career of his own.
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Sartain’s stint on the show led to his casting on Hee Haw in 1972, three years after the show launched on CBS. Hosted by Roy Clark and Buck Owens, the show featured a colorful cast of down-home characters, while the biggest country artists of the era performed live and participated in sketches each week.
Sartain played a variety of characters on the show over the decades, including Sheriff Orville P. Bullmoose, Maynard in the general store sketches, Orville in Lulu’s truck stop, the trucker in the CB radio sketches and more.
He remained involved in Hee Haw until it was canceled in 1992. Sartain also built an impressive career outside the show, appearing on television shows including Cher, Shields and Yarnell, Walker, Texas Ranger, The Dukes of Hazzard, King of the Hill and many more.
The versatile actor also appeared in a string of high-profile films that included The Buddy Holly Story (which starred his former The Uncanny Film Festival and Camp Meeting co-star, Busey), Mississippi Burning, Fried Green Tomatoes, The Outsiders, The Big Easy, The Patriot and more.
His film career also included three films in the Ernest series starring Jim Varney. According to IMDb, Sartain’s final film role was in Elizabethtown in 2005.
His career was not limited to acting. Sartain was also a talented visual artist whose credits included illustrations for a number of national magazines, as well as the cover art for albums including Leon Russell’s Will O’ the Wisp.
Gailard Sartain’s cause of death has not been released to the public. No funeral plans have been announced.
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