Gailard Lee Sartain Jr. (September 18, 1943 – June 19, 2025) was an American actor who frequently played characters with roots in the South. He was a regular on the country music variety series Hee Haw and was also known for his roles in three of the Ernest movies and the TV series Hey Vern, It's Ernest!, which ran for one season on CBS in 1988. He was also a successful painter and illustrator.

Early life and education Gailard Lee Sartain, Jr. was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma on September 18, 1943, the son of Elizabeth Bell Sartain and Gailard Lee Sartain, Sr. His father served as a Fire Chief in Tulsa from 1956–1964. He attended Cascia Hall Preparatory School but was expelled for poor grades, leading him to attend public Will Rogers High School in Tulsa, where he was in the Art Club and the Senior Play; it was at Will Rogers High School where Sartain, still experiencing culture shock from the far more casual environment of public school, began developing his style of humor. He was a member of the Epsilon Mu chapter of Kappa Sigma fraternity at the University of Tulsa, from which he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. In 1968, Gailard moved to New York City, where he worked as an assistant to illustrator Paul Davis.

Acting career Sartain's entry into entertainment was launched in Tulsa in 1970. Working originally as a cameraman at a local television station, he approached the station director when a previous disc jockey was fired from his position as the station's late-night host; the director initially intended to fire Sartain as well but relented and gave Sartain a three-episode pilot order. The result was a late night off-the-wall comedy program entitled The Uncanny Film Festival and Camp Meeting. Dressed as a wizard, wearing a dark blue robe and pointed wizard's cap, Sartain hosted the program as "Dr. Mazeppa Pompazoidi". Other cast members included fellow Tulsa native Gary Busey and Jim Millaway (September 23, 1941 – December 23, 2023). The program was broadcast on the Tulsa CBS affiliate KOTV and later the ABC affiliate KTUL. It featured B-movies, with skits written and performed by Sartain, Busey and company between the movie segments.Matt Gleason, "Who's laughing now? With the release of the last 'Lost Tapes,' we're about to find out", Tulsa World, December 20, 2009.

A year into his run as Mazeppa, Roy Clark's agent asked to be on the program, which led to an offer to join the cast of Hee Haw. Sartain initially declined but accepted in 1972 when he realized it would be a substantial increase in salary. He began as a background character but worked his way up to one of the show's most prominent stars and remained as a regular cast member of the popular show for nearly 20 seasons.Hee Haw – The Cast He also served as a regular on other series including The Sonny & Cher Show (1975–77) and Shields and Yarnell (1978). Sartain played C.D. Parker for one episode during the pilot season of Walker, Texas Ranger. He supplied the voice of a social worker in the pilot episode of the animated series King of the Hill. Sartain also portrayed an advisor to Louisiana Governor Earl Long (played by Paul Newman) in the movie Blaze.

Sartain appeared in more than forty motion pictures, most notably as The Big Bopper (alongside Busey's Buddy Holly) in The Buddy Holly Story, Sheriff Ray Stuckey in Mississippi Burning, The Outsiders, The Hollywood Knights, Fried Green Tomatoes, The Replacements as Offensive Assistant Coach Leo Pilachowski, The Big Easy, The Grifters, Getting Even with Dad, The Patriot, and an uncredited role in the 1994 comedy Wagons East starring John Candy and Richard Lewis. Sartain also appeared in a deleted scene from the Steve Martin comedy The Jerk as a Texas oil millionaire who successfully begs for $1500 (in cash) to replace the cracked leather seats on his private airplane: "You know what this means? I can fly my friends to the Super Bowl like a man, not like some kinda god-danged bum!" He considered his excised role in The Jerk to be his funniest on-screen performance.

Sartain also appeared in Mel McDaniel's music video for "Stand Up" in 1985 as well as Michael Johnson's live performance video of "Give Me Wings" in 1986.

In 1999 he starred in “Existo”, as a nightclub owner and revolutionary named Collette.

His final film role was in 2005, in Cameron Crowe's Elizabethtown. He is also known for his roles in three of the Ernest P. Worrell films starring Jim Varney (as well as the Hey Vern, It's Ernest! television series). With fellow Hey Vern co-star Bill Byrge of Nashville, the duo performed as brothers Chuck and Bobby in a series of "Me and my brother, Bobby..." pitches for local TV stations and product ads.

He was replaced by a younger brother named Tom Tulip (Dallas native John Cadenhead) in Ernest Scared Stupid.

Art career A successful illustrator, Sartain's artistic credits range from record cover designs for such artists as Leon Russell (Will O' the Wisp) to illustrations for nationally published magazines.

In 2001, Sartain was asked to design the artwork for that year’s Mayfest festival, an art festival held annually in his hometown of Tulsa. “I wanted it to have vibrant colors, so I just let myself go with it," Sartain said. "I used all of my memories to try to capture a Tulsa flavor." His artwork was described as:

Personal life and death Sartain and his wife, Mary Jo, were married on New Year’s Eve in 1988. They remained married for over 36 years until his death and had three children.

Sartain died of natural causes on June 19, 2025, in his hometown of Tulsa, at the age of 81. No other cause of death was stated other than his wife's humorous statement: "Actually, he died of silliness."

In 2026, he was posthumously inducted into the Tulsa Hall of Fame.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1975 Nashville Man at Lunch Table Uncredited 1978 The Buddy Holly Story The Big Bopper 1979 The Jerk Guy with Cracked Airplane Seats Uncredited1980 The Hollywood Knights Bimbeau Roadie B.B. Muldoon 1981 Hard Country Johnny Bob 1982 Endangered Species Mayor 1983 The Outsiders Jerry1984 Choose Me Mueller All of Me Fulton Norris Songwriter Mulreaux 1985 Trouble in Mind Fat Adolph1986 Uphill All the Way Private The Big Easy Chef Paul1987 Ernest Goes to Camp Jake Made in Heaven Sam Morrell1988 The Moderns New York Critic Ernest Saves Christmas Chuck Mississippi Burning Sheriff Ray Stuckey 1989 Blaze LaGrange1990 Love at Large Taxi Driver Ernest Goes to Jail Chuck The Grifters Joe1991 Guilty by Suspicion Chairman Wood Fried Green Tomatoes Ed Couch1992 Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot Munroe Equinox Dandridge Wishman Dr. Abe Rogers 1993 The Real McCoy Gary Buckner1994 Clean Slate Judge Block Getting Even with Dad Carl Wagons East J.P. Moreland Uncredited Speechless Lee Cutler 1996 The Spitfire Grill Sheriff Gary Walsh1997 Murder in Mind Charlie RocketMan Mr. Randall Uncredited 1998 The Patriot Floyd Chisolm 1999 The All New Adventures of Laurel & Hardy in For Love or Mummy Oliver Hardy Direct-to-video ExistoColette 2000 The Replacements Pilachowski 2001 Ali Gordon B. Davidson 2005 Elizabethtown Charles Dean

Television Year Title Role Notes 1972–1974 Hee Haw Sheriff Orville B. Bullmoose Recurring role, uncredited 1976–1977 The Sonny and Cher Show Various Recurring role 1983 The Dukes of Hazzard A.C. Tate Jr. 1 episode 1987 9 to 5 Corky 1 episode 1988 Hey Vern, It's Ernest! Chuck/Lonnie Don/Matt Finish Main role 1993 Cooperstown Georgia State Trooper Television film Walker, Texas Ranger C.D. Parker 1 episode 1995 Chicago Hope Senator Thompson 1 episode 1997 King of the Hill Case Manager (voice) 1 episode The Pretender Tug Beualieu 1 episode The Simpsons Big Daddy (voice) 1 episode Arli$$ Hubert Lynch 1 episode Joe Torre: Curveballs Along the Way Don Zimmer Television film 1999 That Championship Season High School Principal Television film, uncredited Pirates of Silicon Valley Ed Roberts Television film The Angry Beavers Big O (voice) 1 episode

Notes

References

External links

Official Website

Mazeppa article by Lindsey Neal Kuykendall in This Land Press January 2011