Goodbye, Geoffrey: Rainbow presenter dies at 76
GEOFFREY Hayes, who hosted long-running children’s show Rainbow, has died at 76.
The TV actor was best known for presenting the iconic programme featuring puppets Zippy and George – alongside Bungle the bear.
He appeared in more than 1,000 episodes between 1974 and 1992. He died from pneumonia in hospital, with his wife Sarah and son Tom by his side.
Hayes’ manager Phil Dale confirmed the news yesterday, saying: ‘The family would like to express their thanks to the many fans over the years as it always gave Geoffrey so much pleasure to know that he and his Rainbow team had given so much fun to TV and theatre audiences.’
Hayes played the long-suffering grown-up, guardian and upholder of the peace in the colourful Rainbow house on the show, which aired several days a week to children across the UK.
In 2002 he said the secret to the ITV programme’s enduring popularity was that it was full of ‘magic, innocence and imagination’.
He said: ‘Practically all the time people come up to me and it really breaks me up because they thank me for being part of their childhood. It makes me want to cry sometimes.’ Hayes struggled to find acting work after Rainbow was cancelled. He said he was ‘frustrated’ by the difficulty he had because ‘directors could only think of me as Rainbow’s Geoffrey’.
In a 2015 interview he said he had spent four months working nights stacking shelves at a supermarket, and also did a stint as a taxi driver. He said at the time: ‘I’m very proud of Rainbow and even now, over 20 years since it finished in 1993, people remember it with affection. Amazingly, I still get recognised.
‘People stop me and thank me for being an important part of their childhood – it’s humbling.’
Recalling how he got the Rainbow role, Hayes said it was a case of being ‘in the right place at the right time’. He added: ‘It sounded interesting, so I knocked on the door and got an audition. I was a jobbing actor with no experience of kids’ TV but, thankfully, I got the job.’ He described how he ‘loved working on Rainbow and couldn’t wait to get into the studio’.
He said: ‘Other actors thought me mad because I never minded coming in on days off to rehearse. Classed as a pre- school programme, it meant my wages were at the lower end of the pay scale.
‘I never earned vast amounts, but at least it was a regular income for 20 years, even if it didn’t make me a millionaire.’
Fans shared tributes on Twitter yesterday, thanking him for being a presence in their younger years. Radio broadcaster Tony Shepherd tweeted: ‘Goodbye to yet another part of our childhood.’
TV hypnotist Chris Hughes added: ‘Zippy, Bungle and George will be lost without you! Paint the whole world with a rainbow.’
Hayes also had a recurring role in drama series Z Cars in the early 1970s as Detective Constable Scatliff, and in recent years appeared on panel shows including Never Mind The Buzzcocks and Pointless Celebrities.