George "Gabby" Hayes

Born: May 7, 1885, Wellsville, New York
Died: February 9, 1969 (age 83), Burbank, California

George Francis 'Gabby' Hayes was an actor. He was best known for his numerous appearances in western movies as the colorful sidekick to the leading man. 

What do you know about George "Gabby" Hayes? Try this quick quiz.

1. At 29, he married in 1914. They remained married until her death in 1957. What is her name.

• Olive Ireland
• Barbara Hale
• Dorothy Malone

2. He had become so successful that by 1928 he was able, at 43, to retire to a home on Long Island in Baldwin, New York. He lost all his savings the next year in the 1929 stock-market crash and returned to acting.

• True or False?

3. What is the 1929 film that is George Hayes first movie?

4. In 1935, he becomes one of the lead actors in the Hopalong Cassidy movies. In Hopalong Cassidy Returns, he plays Windy and in the Heart of the West, he plays Windy Jenkins. However, what is the film he takes on the name Windy Halliday?

5. Hayes, in real life an intelligent, well groomed, and articulate man, was cast as a grizzled codger who uttered phrases like "consarn it", "yer durn tootin", "durn persnickety female", and "young whippersnapper".

• True or False?

6. In the Hoppy series, he has become known as Windy. However, when he leaves to begin working for Republic Pictures he takes on the persona of Gabby Whitaker. What is his first Gabby movie?

7. In 1934, Gabby appears in two John Wayne films. In “Randy Rides Alone,” he is Matt the Mute and the bad guy. In the other, the other he is the successful businessman and “The Shadow.” What is the name of this film?

8. In this 1940 release, director Raoul Walsh reunites Gabby with Roy Rogers and John Wayne. What is the name of this big budget Republic film?

9. Inducted into the Hall of Great Western Performers of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in 2000.

• True or False?

10. How old was Gabby when he took the role for Hopalong Cassidy series with the first film in 1935?

• 30 years old
• 40 years old
• 50 years old

11. Where is George "Gabby" Hayes buried?

• Westwood Memorial Park, Los Angeles, California
• Forest Lawn (Hollywood Hills) Cemetery, Los Angeles, California
• Calverton National Cemetery, Calverton, New York

Answers

1. Olive Ireland
2. True
3. Rainbow Man
4. Hopalong Cassidy Returns
5. True
6. Southward Ho
7. The Star Packer
8. The Dark Command
9. True
10. 50 years old
11. Forest Lawn (Hollywood Hills) Cemetery, Los Angeles, California
    Plot: Hillside, lot 4972