Gailard Sartain, actor in `Mississippi Burning,’ `Hee Haw,’ dies at 81

Gailard Sartain, the actor best known for his long-running role on “Hee Haw” and memorable appearances in films such as “Mississippi Burning” and “The Buddy Holly Story,” has died at age 81, it was reported Friday.

Sartain died Thursday of natural causes at his home in Tulsa, Oklahoma, according to his wife, Mary Jo Sartain, who told The Hollywood Reporter.

A comic force on television, Sartain spent two decades on “Hee Haw” and portrayed musician-DJ Jerry “The Big Bopper” Richardson in “The Buddy Holly Story” (1978).

He was also known for his roles in three “Ernest” movies and worked frequently with indie filmmaker Alan Rudolph, appearing in nine of his films.

Though often cast as a comedic Southern everyman, Sartain earned praise for his dramatic turn as a racist sheriff in 1988’s “Mississippi Burning.”

“Nobody likes to be typecast as a barefooted hillbilly, so when I had the opportunity to do other roles, I happily did it,” he told the Tulsa World newspaper in 2017. “I was cast in that, and that kind of turned things around. I wasn’t just typecast as a funny guy. That was a little bit pivotal.”

His other film credits include “The Outsiders,” “The Hollywood Knights,’ “Fried Green Tomatoes,” “The Big Easy,” “The Grifters,” and “Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot.”

Sartain also made guest appearances on shows such as “Walker, Texas Ranger,” “Chicago Hope” and “The Simpsons,” among others.

A former TV cameraman and illustrator, Sartain designed the album cover for musician Leon Russell’s “Will O’ the Wisp.”

Sartain was born in Tulsa on Sept. 18, 1943. After being expelled from private school, he graduated from Will Rogers High School and the University of Tulsa.

In 1968, he moved to New York and worked as an assistant to fellow Oklahoman and illustrator Paul Davis, whose art appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times and Playboy.

He is survived by his wife, three children, granddaughter and great- grandson.

— City News Service