Tulsa actor and artist Gailard Sartain, a longtime "Hee Haw" cast member whose entertainment career was sparked by a late-night show on local television, died Thursday in Tulsa. He was 81. Sartain accumulated credits in more than 70 film and TV projects before stepping away from acting 20 years ago. Though Sartain tackled serious roles, he was best known as a comedic actor.
Gailard Sartain stated that he owes his career to the "Mazeppa" late-night show, which gained a local following in the 1970s. He used Mazeppa as a springboard to "Hee Haw" and other TV and film roles.
"Those are rough years when you are coming out of Cascia Hall and going to Will Rogers," he said. "You are used to wearing a sport coat and tie, and then it's clothes optional at Rogers. It was a transition and kind of hard, but I had to prove myself."
Sartain was in pursuit of a master's degree at TU when he landed a job at KOTV, Tulsa's CBS affiliate. A cameraman, he began "monkeying around" in front of the camera during Gary Chew's early afternoon movie program, "Go for Dough on the Early Show."
In the same interview, Sartain said he lobbied KOTV for a late-night show. When a program hosted by a disc jockey fizzled, he approached program director Art Elliott about the possibility of being a replacement host. Elliott reportedly said, "Matter of fact, I was thinking of firing you, too."
Sartain was given a short leash — a three-episode test run for the late-night show. Titled "Dr. Mazeppa Pompazoidi's Uncanny Film Festival and Camp Meeting," the show featured Sartain and his allies, Busey and Jim Millaway, who appeared as Sherman Oaks. They performed sketch comedies that aired between breaks of whatever movie was showing (usually horror films and sometimes Busby Berkeley musicals).
https://tulsaworld.com/life-entertainment/local/movies-tv/article_7295af07-d754-4a9e-86df-1b1938c5ae5e.html