DuQuoin, Illinois native and H.R. Pufnstuf’s Billie Hayes dies at age 96 [Witchiepoo]

https://fox2now.com ^ | Posted: May 5, 2021 / 06:03 AM CDT / Updated: May 5, 2021 / 06:03 AM CDT | Monica Ryan

[Red Badger]

ST. LOUIS – Billie Hayes who played Witchiepoo on H.R. Pufnstuf has died at the age of 96.

Hayes was born in DuQuoin, Illinois.

H.R. Pufnstuf was a children’s television show produced by Sid and Marty Krofft. The official Sid and Marty Krofft Twitter account tweeted the news on Monday, May 3.

“Margaret Hamilton (Wizard of Oz) once told us that Billie Hayes was “one of the best witches ever” We couldn’t agree more. Rest in Peace dear friend,” the official Sid and Marty Krofft Twitter account said.

H.R. Pufnstuf ran for one season from 1969 to 1970.

[ClearCase_guy]

They say the show wasn’t about drugs.

RIP

[Red Badger]

Who’s your friend when things get rough?..................

[READINABLUESTATE]

I remember H.R. Pufnstuf. There is a reason it only ran one season...

[Red Badger]

I was 14 and my siblings watched it. I hated it. And the Banana Splits I hated even worse...........

[NativeSon]

It sukk’d, now Sigmund the Seamonster, that was quality programming.

[PghBaldy]

I used to watch the show when I was a kid. R.I.P., Billie Hayes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid_%26_Marty_Krofft_Television_Productions_Inc._v._McDonald%27s_Corp.#Results

[Red Badger]

She was the only character that was actually worth watching.......................

[Burkean]

I loved the show when I was a child, but it wasn’t until buying the box set a few years ago and rewatching it that I caught onto the phallic symbolism of a boy being afraid of an older woman getting a hold of his “magic flute.” Freud would have had a field day with it.

[Zathras]

Yep and YEP!
How both of these shows ever stayed on was beyond me.

[MNnice]

She outlived Jack Wild by 15 years (He died in 2006).

[RushIsMyTeddyBear]

Same here.

[Steely Tom]

I only heard of it because other kids in my sixth grade home room talked about it; I watched a little of it once and it creeped me out. Surreal and trippy.

[Skywise]

Godspeed Witchiepoo

[LittleBillyInfidel]

Every time the weather turns bad when I’m out on my boat, I think of this show’s open.

[Red Badger]

[Celtic Conservative]

Yeah, and neither was “Lidsville”.

CC

[Magnum44]

You mean you didnt like "Danger Island?"

[Magnum44]

And then there was this...

A maniac dressed in a dog costume wreaks bloody havoc during the taping of a popular children's television show.

[ConservativeMind]

It was a warped TeleTubbies for 4-6 year olds.

I just remember it being often disjointed, over-the-top, and mind numbing, all at the same time. It was a wasted half hour of nonsense, but still better than PBS.