https://deadline.com/2021/05/billie-hayes-dead-obituary-witchiepoo-h-r-pufnstuf-actress-was-96-1234749037/

Billie Hayes, whose portrayal of the flamboyantly and comically wicked witch Witchiepoo on the 1969-70 Saturday morning live-action children’s classic H.R. Pufnstuf, died of natural causes April 29 at Cedar’s Hospital in Los Angeles. She was 96.

Her death was announced by her family.

A Broadway veteran by the time she reached national fame as the flute-stealing nemesis to a psychedelic dragon, Hayes had starred as Mammy Yokum in both the Broadway and film versions of the popular late-1950s musical Lil’ Abner....

That is one helluva obituary! So many juicy tidbits. I'm sorry I never got to see that 1976 Paul Lynde Halloween special. She and he were good friends - what a spectacle they must have made! (Not to mention guest Margaret Hamilton.)

Annoyingly, even NOW, the IMDb can't seem to get her entry straight. That is, at first glance, her birth year appears to be 1925, but when you click on her biography, it says 1924. I'm also pretty sure that just a few years ago, it said she was born circa 1932...

Oh well. She apparently liked to keep her age under wraps. I searched just now for a mention of her 90th birthday and couldn't find one.

One minor but memorable moment from the TV series (it starts at about 4:50):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3gnraebJIUg

Well, I found the Lynde special, anyway, though I can't watch all of it right now. Guess who else shows up, at the house?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CCJ0D4pI0tI

Plus this scene from "Bewitched"!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Vxscbol6Ii4

As one commentator pointed out: "If the show was taped before a live audience, there'd be a mighty applause for Billie Hayes."

http://www.rebeatmag.com/fantasia-obscura-pufnstuf/
(about the 1970 Pufnstuf movie, with Mama Cass Elliot, as Witch Hazel - yes, she got to sing!)

And, about "Lidsville" - for those who don't know, Weenie the Genie was a boy.

More from the "Bewitched" clip:

"Billie Hayes also appeared on the sitcom 'Tabitha' in 1977. She plays a nun being interviewed by Robert Urich's 'Paul Thurston'. Tabitha zaps the nun and she turns from sweet to feisty and exhibits some of the mannerisms seen both here and as 'Witchiepoo'.

And here's the phone call scene from the movie of "Pufnstuf." The last few seconds always make me cringe - I can't believe she didn't break her neck!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VYWXE53MQAo&list=PLCyivlo_MQ8OZ0lR6CUmrUr6s7V-Oluki&index=19

http://www.billiehayes.com/work.html
(her work highlights)

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0370906/

And, guess why the show was so short-lived? The Kroffts simply ran out of money!

"The Psychedelic World Of HR Pufnstuf: Facts You Didn’t Know"

https://www.trend-chaser.com/entertainment/the-psychedelic-world-of-hr-pufnstuf-facts-you-didnt-know/?view-all&andro=1&ios=1&safari=1

Another obit:

https://comicbook.com/tv-shows/news/billie-hayes-witchiepoo-actress-hr-pufnstuf-dead-96/

"...The short-lived show and movie weren't the only times Hayes played the part though, reprising it for both the The Bay City Rollers Show and Lidsville, both Sid and Marty Krofft creations as well.

"Witches would go on to become a staple of Hayes career as she would appear in-person and voicing characters of that nature for the decades to come long after H.R. Pufnstuf had gone off the air. Hayes voiced the villain Mother Mae-Eye on both Teen Titans and Teen Titans Go! while also providing a witch voice for Shrek Forever After and The Nightmare Before Christmas. She'd also voice the witch character Orgoch in Disney's The Black Cauldron.

"Hayes other credits in TV include General Hospital, Murder, She Wrote, Darkwing Duck, Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, Rugrats, Johnny Bravo, The Batman, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, and Transformers: Rescue Bots."

Oh, THIS one's good. Plus, on the movie poster, you can just see Martha Raye (on the left) and Mama Cass!

https://extratv.com/2021/05/03/billie-hayes-witchiepoo-on-h-r-pufnstuf-dies-at-96/

Excerpt:

.... In 1967, she appeared as a character similar to Mammy — this time Maw — on an episode of "The Monkees." Speaking a few years ago about her experience on that iconic series, Hayes said it was fun because, "I love people who have a freedom about themselves. They're not afraid to approach other people or to open up to other people — you don't have to tell people your laundry list, but just open up! And the Monkees were like that."

On Sid and Marty Krofft's 1969 Saturday-morning TV series "H.R. Pufnstuf," she brought to life Wilhelmina W. Witchiepoo, a hyperkinetic, cackling spell-binder who lured a curious boy (the late Jack Wild) to her castle on Living Island in order to swipe his talking flute. Only her nemesis, the goodnatured dragon-mayor of Living Island H.R. Pufnstuf, kept Witchiepoo at bay.

Thanks to the series' wild costumes and psychedelic vibe, it became a cult hit in spite of its meager 17-episode run. A 1970 film version with Hayes and the show's other stars, including a guest appearance by Mama Cass Elliott, was equally treasured for its mix of kid-friendly slapstick and mod '60s influences.

Witchiepoo was so over-the-top that in spite of being the show's villainess, she was also its main draw. She said in a rare 1969 interview, "Oh, I love that fan mail! I'm the Ann Landers of the witch world — I am! The kids write me and I don't know why they pick the witch to write to unless they figure, you know, 'Either she's so dumb she'll give ya a funny answer,' or 'She's so smart I'll get out of trouble,' right?... What a feeling of power!"...

And here's that 1969 interview! It's under five minutes.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=buncF4QvkoA&feature=youtu.be

From 2017 - about the Monkees - two minutes long:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UCocvRH8Jo4&feature=youtu.be

https://www.sportskeeda.com/pop-culture/news-rip-witchiepoo-billie-hayes-death-96-leaves-h-r-pufnstuf-s-fans-heartbroken

This is funny:

Sad to hear that Billie Hayes (Witchiepoo) passed away Thursday. I was just in the middle of carving a set of wooden marionettes based on The Paul Lynde Halloween Special. @genesimmons @kiss pic.twitter.com/8leBKPzhLm— Darren Darrionettes (@GeppettoMoreash) May 3, 2021

And I make no excuses for posting this ever so bittersweet (in hindsight) clip of Witch Hazel singing (yes, the other witches got to sing their own song later, as well):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=i7rAaYFFeZk

Lyrics:

"Different is hard
Different is lonely
Different is trouble for you only
Different is heartache
Different is pain
But I'd rather be different than be the same"

One commentator, six years ago, quoted the lyrics and joked:

"Wait, wait, wait! Are you sure these are the villains?"

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/13/arts/television/billie-hayes-witchiepoo-dead.html

By Neil Genzlinger, May 13, 2021

Excerpts:

....Few of the shows lasted long — “Pufnstuf” survived only 17 episodes — but they made an impression.

“The Kroffts dished up a swirl of psychedelia, vaudeville and cheesy production values that might be described as brown acid for the toddler soul,” Emily Nussbaum wrote in The New York Times in 2004, when TV Land broadcast a marathon of Krofft creations.

“Pufnstuf” was a sort of comic sendup of “The Wizard of Oz,” with Witchiepoo pursuing a talking flute possessed by a boy named Jimmy (Jack Wild) in much the way Margaret Hamilton’s Wicked Witch of the West craves Dorothy’s ruby slippers.

The red wig and elaborate makeup Ms. Hayes wore made her a striking figure, but witchy ineptitude kept Witchiepoo from being too scary. In 1970 she played the character in a film version, called simply “Pufnstuf,” in a cast that also included Martha Raye as a character named Boss Witch and Cass Elliot of the Mamas and the Papas as one named Witch Hazel...

....Perhaps most memorably, in 1976 the comedian Paul Lynde, with whom she had first worked decades earlier, managed to pair her and Ms. Hamilton in a running sketch on “The Paul Lynde Halloween Special,” which also featured appearances by Betty White, Donny and Marie Osmond and the rock group Kiss, and which has taken on a sort of kitschy fame.

“The two witches bookend Mr. Lynde as they cackle their way through the hardcover editions of ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ and ‘The Exorcist,’ call ‘The Sound of Music’ a real horror movie and play Witches’ Monopoly, a board game in which contestants can either buy a property or blow it up,” The New York Times wrote in 2007 when a DVD of that television rarity was released....

(snip)

And, I'm posting this again - as I said, the scene in question starts at about 4:50.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3gnraebJIUg

Lenona.

Regarding Martha Raye's role as Boss Witch, I found this comment at YouTube (under a different clip from the movie):

"(Sid Krofft) said that originally they approached Flip Wilson to play Boss Witch but he wanted too much money, he called Bette Davis and asked her and she said you want me to play a witch go fuck yourself and hung up! He also shared a story about a little person who gave him the f word when he asked if they wanted to play a mushroom! "