Biography
Gailard Sartain was an American character actor and comedian. Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, he graduated from the University of Tulsa with a BFA and initially worked as an illustrator, designing record covers including for Leon Russell's Will O' the Wisp and contributing to national magazines.
Sartain created and hosted the local late-night comedy programme Dr. Mazeppa Pompazoidi's Uncanny Film Festival and Camp Meeting in Tulsa. He joined the cast of the variety show Hee Haw in 1972 and remained a regular for nearly two decades. His film roles include Jerry in The Outsiders (1983), Sheriff Stuckey in Mississippi Burning (1988), Ed Couch in Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), and appearances in three Ernest films. He collaborated on nine features with director Alan Rudolph and appeared in Ali (2001) and Elizabethtown (2005). Sartain died in Tulsa in June 2025.
