Geoffrey Hayes

Charles Geoffrey Hayes (13 March 1942 – 30 September 2018) was an English television presenter and actor. He presented Thames Television's children's show Rainbow from 1973 to 1992.

Early life and education Hayes was born on 13 March 1942 in Stockport, Cheshire. His mother was Mary (née Higgins) and his father was Sam Hayes. At the age of 15 he left school and took a succession of temporary jobs, including working in a cotton mill and in a British Rail ticket office. He joined the Oldham Repertory, working as a scene shifter, and this opened up acting opportunities. He began to train as an actor at drama school in Manchester, and gained repertory theatre acting experience in Liverpool, Dundee and Manchester. Hayes also had writing credits for Rainbow and The Great Pony Raid in 1967.

Hayes struggled to find work after Rainbow was cancelled by ITV when the production company, Thames Television, lost its franchise in 1991.

Hayes appeared in the video for "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing" by Oasis tribute band, No Way Sis. He replicated the role of a taxi driver, Hayes also appeared in the all-star line up for the video of Tony Christie with Peter Kay's single "Is This the Way to Amarillo?"

Hayes was part of the Walkers Crisps campaign for Monster Munch in 2008. The stated objective of the campaign was to find the missing monster puppets from the original 1980s television advertisements for the snack. In the film clip, he mentions that he has heard from Bungle recently. In September 2015, he was a guest on BBC One's Pointless Celebrities alongside the former Tiswas star Sally James. The pair got through to the final, but did not get a Pointless answer.

Personal life, illness and death Hayes married Sarah Williams in 1987. The couple had a son.

Hayes had homes in London and Spain.