'Hee Haw' Actor Gailard Sartain Dead at 78

Gailard Sartain -- the beloved Southern character actor from "Hee Haw," "Mississippi Burning," and "Fried Green Tomatoes" -- has died at 78, TMZ has confirmed.

Teresa Knox, CEO of The Church Studio in Tulsa, Oklahoma, tells TMZ Gailard passed away this week after a long decline in health. No official cause of death has been revealed.

The Church Studio -- where Sartain's wife Mary Jo volunteered -- is remembering him as "an extraordinary actor, artist, and comedian."

Victoria Hallman, who played Miss Honeydew on the TV show "Hee Haw," tells TMZ Gailard was like a big brother to her and made everyone on set laugh so hard, they had to redo takes.

She added, "I knew he wasn't in good health and hadn't been for a while. We always fool ourselves that people will hang on. I wasn't expecting to find out in the wee hours of the morning."

Gailard got his start in the early '70s as the wild-eyed Dr. Mazeppa Pompazoidi on the local late-night sketch show "Uncanny Film Festival and Camp Meeting," which aired on KOTV in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

He joined the comedy variety show "Hee Haw" in '72 -- and never looked back, racking up over 60 film and TV credits, including three 'Ernest' movies, "The Outsiders," and "The Buddy Holly Story."

He was 78.