May 7
On this day in 1885, George Francis Hayes, better known as “Gabby” was born in Stannards, New York, a small settlement near Wellsville.
Hayes, who became one of the best known western sidekicks in film history, was by any measure an unlikely candidate for cowboy movies. The third of seven children, his father, Clark, was proprietor of a small hotel and dabbled in oil production. His mother, Elizabeth, was a sister to George F. Morrison, president of General Electric.
Young Hayes apparently was intoxicated by the smell of the grease paint at an early age when he performed in an elementary school play. He may have had a promising career in professional baseball, as well, having played semi-pro ball while still in high school.
The lure of the stage won out, however. After taking first in a talent contest Hayes ran away from home at age 17 to join a traveling stock company. He also spent some time with the circus before turning to vaudeville.
He met and married a New Jersey girl, Olive E. Ireland, in 1914. She followed him into vaudeville under the stage name Dorothy Earle.
Hays and Earle were successful vaudevillians and managed to retire in 1928, just 14 years later. But their retirement was short lived. The couple lost their entire savings in the crash of 1929 and Earle persuaded her husband to move to the West Coast to try to break in to the burgeoning film industry.
It worked. Over the next 20 years, Hays had roles, both large and small, in more than 190 movies.
Cast in a variety of roles at first, the versatile actor sometimes played two parts in the same film. He found his niche, however, with the rise in popularity of “oaters” during the 30s and 40s, necessitating that he learn to ride a horse.
Hayes played the role of Windy Halliday, opposite William Boyd’s Hopalong Cassidy from 1935 to 1939. A wage dispute in 1939 caused 
Hayes to move from Paramount to Republic where the studio created the new moniker “Gabby Whitaker.”
During his career he played opposite cowboy icons Roy Rogers, Gene Autry and Wild Bill Elliott. In addition he appeared with John Wayne in 15 movies and six times with Randoph Scott, with whom he shared the same birthday.
When Westerns fell into decline, Hayes moved to television. He starred in NBC’s “Gabby Hayes Show” from 1950 to 1954 and hosted an ABC revival in 1956.
Claiming in interviews to actually hate the Western genre, Hayes was in real life cosmopolitan, articulate and by all accounts a savvy businessman. 
His name appeared on the list of Hollywood’s top earners for 12 consecutive years.
Following the death of his wife in 1957, Hays retired from acting a year later but continued to be a featured character in several comic book series for more than 50 issues.
After retiring Hayes owned and managed a 10-unit apartment building in North Hollywood until his own death in 1969 at the age of 83. He was interned at Forest Lawn next to his wife of 43 years .
The popular actor was honored with two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to film and television. In 2000, he was named to the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.
The Little Hollywood Movie Set Museum, 297 W Center St., Kanab, Utah, in the midst of three national parks, was a natural for Western movie locations. Since 1924 it has been the site for more than 100 
movies, several featuring Gabby Hayes including “In Old Oklahoma” and “Tall In the Saddle.” Exhibits of actual Hollywood movie sets are free for visitors to browse from 9 to 9 daily. For more information go to littlehollywoodmuseum.org or call (435) 644-5337.