| Geoffrey Hayes | |
|---|---|
| Born | 13 March 1942 Stockport, Cheshire |
| Occupation | Television presenter, actor |
Geoffrey Hayes (born 13 March, 1942 in Stockport, Cheshire) is an English television presenter and actor, best known as the host of Thames Television's top-rated children's show Rainbow from 1973 to 1992. Before that, he had much other work, including a recurring role in BBC1's police drama Z-Cars.
Rumours were rife, during the late 1990s and early 2000s, that Hayes would be working on a new series of Rainbow. Although this did not happen, there was a revival of the show in the United Kingdom, with toys of the show's puppets being reproduced and sold in shops, as well as a tongue-in-cheek book about the show, co-written by Hayes. Hayes also has writing credits for Rainbow and The Great Pony Raid in 1967. Hayes mentioned in a radio interview that "colloquialisms were burdening society" - he is fond of grammar and punctuation.
Hayes is a fan of the Scottish football team Dundee United, having lived in the city in the 1960s. This has been reported as being the reason that one of his Rainbow co-stars, Zippy was coloured tangerine (his team's colours), instead of blue (the colour of rivals Dundee FC) though there is no evidence to support this as Hayes, unlike Zippy, was not associated with the programme from the beginning.
Hayes has recently admitted he had not been wise with his money, and had little left by the time Rainbow came to an end. After Rainbow was cancelled, Hayes continued to work in television and pantomime, but it was not enough to earn a living as an actor, so he took a job with the British supermarket chain Sainsbury's, before becoming a taxicab driver, which he is still doing today. Hayes starred in a humorous television advert about investing money, making fun of his fall from the top.
In 1996, Hayes appeared in the video for "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing" by Oasis tribute band, NoWaySis. He replicated the role as a taxi driver, just as Patrick Macnee had done in the Oasis video for "Don't Look Back in Anger".
In 2005, Hayes appeared on the television show This Morning, talking about the heyday of Rainbow, and also appeared in the all-star line up for the video of Tony Christie with Peter Kay's #1 hit single "Is This the Way to Amarillo?". On 3 April 2006, Geoffrey was seen as a special guest on ITV1's late-night show The Mint.
In 2008, Hayes was part of the Walkers Crisps campaign for Monster Munch. The stated objective of the campaign is to find the missing monster puppets from the original 1980s television advertisements for the popular snack. In the film clip, he mentions that he has heard from Bungle recently.
In October 2011, Geoffrey was involved in an accident cycling which has left him with a broken left leg. He was admitted to Leeds General Infirmary where he spent a week before being discharged. This led to him missing the funeral of close friend Jimmy Savile.