Billie Hayes Dies: Wicked Witchiepoo Of ‘H.R. Pufnstuf’ Was 96
Billie Hayes, who played Witchiepoo on the 1969-70 Saturday morning live-action children's classic H.R. Pufnstuf, died of natural causes on April 29 at Cedars Hospital in Los Angeles. She was 96 years old at the time.
Her family made the announcement of her death.
Hayes had appeared as Mammy Yokum in both the Broadway and film versions of the successful late-1950s musical Lil' Abner before she rose to national prominence as the flute-stealing nemesis of a psychedelic dragon. In 1956, she made her Broadway debut as part of an ensemble that included actress Maggie Smith.
Hayes endeared herself to a generation of glued-to-the-tube Saturday morning viewers in 1969 as the eccentrically costumed, ever-cackling, and often bumbling Witchiepoo, after a couple of guest appearances on episodic TV in 1967 – including a Mammy Yokum-type matriarch in The Monkees' "Hillbilly Honeymoon" episode – (full name: Wilhelmina W. Witchiepoo).
Hayes was an instant scene-stealer, even by the wacky standards of the Sid and Marty Krofft universe of costumed monsters, with a presentation panache that was over-the-top. Really, it's a series-stealer: Despite the fact that Witchiepoo was the H.R. Pufnstuf villain, bent on stealing the enchanted, talking Freddy the Flute as if he were a pair of ruby slippers, Hayes' wildly amusing vaudeville, slapstick style had legions of young audiences cheering for her to win. After the inevitable backfire of her new evil plan, she'd scream or weep, "Why me?"
Hayes, who was born in Du Quoin, Illinois, started her career in show business at the age of nine, performing professionally in local nightclubs. She joined Vince Genovese's fourteen-piece regional orchestra while still in high school and played solo in Chicago and throughout the Midwest in her youth.
After relocating to New York, Hayes auditioned for renowned theater impresario J.J. Shubert, who was so taken by her comic and musical abilities that he cast her in principal roles in three roadshow operettas: Student Prince, The Merry Widow, and Blossom Time.
She was soon co-starring in the New York revue What's New with fellow newcomer Paul Lynde, which led to her Broadway debut in Leonard Sillman's New Faces show. She then took over Charlotte Rae's role as Mammy Yokum in Lil' Abner from the original cast and was cast alongside Valerie Harper, another up-and-comer in the replacement cast.
Hayes would reprise the part in Paramount's 1959 film adaptation and a TV movie adaptation in 1971, wearing old-age make-up, a white wig, and a long-stemmed pipe. In the late 1960s, she made a comeback as Minnie Fay in the national touring company of Hello, Dolly! starring Betty Grable.
Hayes had found her signature role after her appearance in the cult-classic Sid and Marty Krofft series in 1969, which also featured Jack Wild (Oliver!) as the on-the-run Dorothy Gale-stand-in Jimmy and Lennie Weinrib (actor Roberto Gamonet was inside the puffy, full-body green-and-yellow costume), who provided the voice of Pufnstuf the dragon (actor Roberto Gamonet was inside.
Along with Wild, Martha Raye, and “Mama” Cass Elliot, she reprised her role as Pufnstuf in the 1970 feature film adaptation Pufnstuf (as Witch Hazel).
Hayes also appeared in a comedy sketch with Margaret Hamilton from The Wizard of Oz in 1976 on the ABC Halloween special of her old friend Paul Lynde, revealing the sisterly relationship between the two famous witches.
Following the cancellation of H.R. Pufnstuf in 1970, Krofft landed yet another appearance, this time as Witchiepoo and the kinder Weenie the Genie in Lidsville (1971-72), with Charles Nelson Reilly playing the show's main villain, magician Horatio J. Hoodoo.
Hayes went on to have a long and successful voice acting career, appearing in shows such as The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries, The Flintstones Comedy Show, Trollkins, The Real Ghostbusters, Rugrats, and Transformers: Rescue Bots, among others. She also had a recurring role on General Hospital in the early 1980s as Agent Brighton O'Reilly, a street-wise foreign spy.
Off-screen, Hayes founded the Pet Hope animal rescue group in Los Angeles, a cause she had championed since adopting a puppy abandoned in the basement of Broadway's St. James Theatre during the run of Lil' Abner.
Hayes is survived by his niece Nancy Powers, nephews Tom Brosch, Louie Brosch, and Guy Brosch, as well as their spouses and a number of great-nieces and nephews. In place of flowers, the family demands donations to Pet Hope.
Read next: Robin Padilla declares DLSU was established by the Spanish, but facts prove him wrong
Comments
Post a Comment