Colourful star of iconic children’s show
“PAINT the whole world with a rainbow” was the catchphrase of flamboyant children’s television presenter Geoffrey Hayes.
Aimed at the under-fives, Rainbow was Britain’s answer to America’s Sesame Street, educating children with songs, words and the puppets Zippy, George and Bungle.
The show ran from 1972 to 1992 when it was axed abruptly due to a change in management. Afterwards Hayes stacked supermarket shelves before rebranding himself in 2002 at the Edinburgh Fringe.
Born in Stockport, Cheshire, Hayes left school at 15 and did stints as a cotton-mill worker and British Rail booking clerk before joining Oldham’s repertory theatre. He went on to drama school in Manchester and worked at Dundee Repertory Theatre.
Moving to London, Hayes landed his breakthrough role playing DC Scatliff in police drama Z Cars.
However, the role was small and he began looking for other acting work. It was while playing a taxi driver in soap opera Harriet’s Back In Town that Hayes bumped into actor friend David Cook. At the time Cook was presenting Rainbow, but told Hayes he intended to leave. Hayes grasped the opportunity by knocking on a producer’s door at Thames Television, auditioned and landed the part.
During his 18-year reign as the show’s presenter, Hayes would play the long-suffering mentor of rowdy puppets Zippy, Bungle the bear and George the pink hippopotamus.
Hayes became a fixture in a generation’s childhoods and was always touched when he met fans who would tell him so.
However, it came to an end when Thames Television handed its ITV franchise over to Carlton Television.
Hayes struggled to get serious acting jobs, finding himself typecast as a children’s TV presenter.
After the stint as a shelf-stacker and driving taxis, he took his one-man show Over The Rainbow to the Edinburgh Fringe. In 2005 Hayes and Bungle featured in the video for Peter Kay and Tony Christie’s hit (Is This The Way To) Amarillo. In recent years Hayes appeared on TV programmes including Pointless Celebrities and Never Mind The Buzzcocks.
He died in hospital from pneumonia and is survived by his wife Sarah and son Tom.