Peter Lind Hayes

Peter Lind Hayes (born Joseph Conrad Lind; June 25, 1915 – April 21, 1998) was an American vaudeville entertainer, songwriter, and film and television actor.

Peter Lind Hayes
Mary Healy and Peter Lind Hayes,
guest hosts of The Tonight Show (1962)
Born
Joseph Conrad Lind

(1915-06-25)June 25, 1915
San Francisco, California, U.S.
DiedApril 21, 1998(1998-04-21) (aged 82)
Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
OccupationStage, film and television actor
Spouse(s)
​
(
m. 1940)
Children2

Early life

Hayes was born in San Francisco, the son of entertainer Grace Hayes (1895–1989).[1] He spent his early childhood in Cairo, Illinois, and then attended school in the New York City suburb of New Rochelle.[2]

Career

Hayes made his vaudeville debut with his mother at the age of six.[3] In 1939, his mother sold some jewelry and borrowed $8,000 to open the Grace Hayes Lodge in Los Angeles, where he began working as a nightclub performer.[1]

He appeared in films throughout the 1930s and 1940s, and had a significant television career in the 1950s. He often appeared with his wife Mary Healy. During World War II Hayes enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces and appeared in both the play and Winged Victory film of Winged Victory. In 1946, Hayes opened at the Copacabana in New York. This led to an engagement with the Dinah Shore radio show.[2]

Hayes and Healy were the original singers of the Chevrolet jingle "See The U.S.A. In Your Chevrolet" in 1950.[4] (Dinah Shore later sang the song for Chevrolet starting in 1952.) The couple starred in Zis Boom Bah (1941) along with Grace Hayes and were top-billed in the cult fantasy musical film The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. (1953). He also had a considerable reputation as a singer of comic songs, several of which made their way onto record, including "Life Gets Tee-Jus, Don't It".[5]

Hayes may best be remembered for being designated substitute for Arthur Godfrey on both his CBS-TV and radio programs as well as several short-lived television series in which he and Healy co-hosted or co-starred, such as The Peter Lind Hayes Show (1950–51), Star of the Family (1950-1952), and Peter Loves Mary (1960–61).[6] He also appeared on the pilot episode of The Match Game on December 5, 1962. He and his wife Mary were occasional guests on TV quiz shows To Tell the Truth, Password, and What's My Line? In 1964, he appeared in an episode of The Outer Limits, titled "Behold, Eck!", playing the lead role of Dr. Robert Stone, an absent-minded optical engineer and researcher.

Personal life

Hayes was married to Mary Healy from 1940 until his death in 1998.

In 1961, Hayes and Healy co-authored their biography, titled Twenty-Five Minutes from Broadway.[7] The title was inspired by the name of the George M. Cohan musical Forty-five Minutes from Broadway, about the community of New Rochelle, New York where the two lived. They owned Columbia Island in New Rochelle, along the Long Island Sound shore. From that house, they broadcast a weekday breakfast conversation show on New York radio station 710 WOR.[8]

Death

Hayes died from vascular problems in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the age of 82. He was survived by his wife; a son, Peter Michael Hayes, and a daughter, Cathy Lind Hayes.[3]

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References
  1. "Grace Hayes, 93; Nightclub Hostess in 1940s and '50s". Los Angeles Times. February 3, 1989.
  2. "Peter Lind Hayes". Genie the Magic Record's Wild West Show / Genie the Magic Record's Magic Trick (78rpm single). Peter Lind Hayes. Decca Records. K-18.CS1 maint: others (link)
  3. Carter, Bill (April 23, 1998). "Peter Lind Hayes, 82, of Radio, TV and Films". The New York Times.
  4. "Inside U. S. A. (musical variety, starring Peter Lind Hayes and Mary Healy)". The Media Management Group. 2003. Retrieved May 14, 2017.
  5. Vosburgh, Dick (May 1, 1998). "Obituary: Peter Lind Hayes". The Independent.
  6. no byline (January 1, 1954). "Radio-TV Notes". The New York Times. Retrieved February 19, 2019.
  7. Hayes, Peter Lind; Healy, Mary (1961). Twenty-Five Minutes from Broadway. Duell, Sloan and Pearce. ASIN B000AMD4M4.
  8. "Radio-TV Couple Donate an Island To Catholic College". The New York Times. Jan 13, 1966.
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