SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW
Who was Geoffrey Hayes? Rainbow presenter and Detective Constable Scatliff from Z Cars
Geoffrey's manager says the former actor and presenter passed away in hospital surrounded by family
GEOFFREY Hayes was an actor and presenter best known for his role as DC Scatliff in the BBC series Z Cars and presenter on kids' TV show Rainbow on ITV.
Geoffrey died in hospital with his family by his side. Here's more about the actor...
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Where and when was Geoffrey born?
Geoffrey Hayes was born on March 13, 1942, in Stockport, Cheshire.
He was a television actor and presenter and was married to Sarah.
They have one child - a son, Tom.
He started out on TV in 1968 as PC Jenkins in Detective.
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What TV programmes was Geoffrey in?
Geoffrey had a recurring role in BBC1's police drama Z-Cars from 1969 to 1973.
He also had parts in Dixon of Dock Green, Softly Softly: Task Force and Harriet's Back in Town.
He landed the role of presenter on children's TV show Rainbow in 1973.
The pre-school programme featured characters Zippy, George and Bungle who lived in the Rainbow House.
The show ran for more than 1,000 episodes between 1973 and 1992.
It also featured musical interludes from trio Rod, Jane and Freddy in addition to animations and stories read from the famous Rainbow storybook.
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What did he do after presenting Rainbow?
Geoffrey often spoke about how he was "frustrated" with the lack of acting offers after Rainbow, because "directors could only think of me as Rainbow's Geoffrey".
He appeared on panel game shows such as Never Mind the Buzzcocks in 2002 and Pointless Celebrities in 2015.
He also appeared in the 2000 TV documentary After They Were Famous.
He also starred in several pantomimes during the same period.
Hayes admitted in 2015 that he had spent four months working night shifts at a local supermarket stacking shelves.
He also worked several stints as a taxi driver. This was played upon in an ad campaign for Monster Munch he starred in.
Geoffrey also appeared in the all-star line up for the video of Tony Christie and Peter Kay's single Is This the Way to Amarillo?
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How did Geoffrey die?
Geoffrey passed away in hospital at the age of 76 on October 1, 2018.
The TV presenter's manager Phil Dale said the star passed away "from pneumonia" in hospital.
His wife Sarah and son Tom were with him.
Clip of Geoffrey Hayes presenting the classic children's TV show Rainbow
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