I don’t have much to add to the avalanche of well-deserved praise for beloved performer Jerry “Mr. Peppermint” Haynes, who died yesterday at the age of 84. I was a kid in North Texas in the ‘70s and ‘80s and of course knew his work as a local TV kids’ show celebrity.
Then I grew up to be a Dallas arts journalist starting in the early ‘90s. That’s when I saw Haynes perform onstage for the first time in a Theatre Three show called Homeward Bound. It was a serious drama in which he played a gloomy patriarch with a very foul mouth. Haynes was terrific, needless to say – intense, absorbing, a natural stage talent. Still, my ultra-serious demeanor as a critic of The Theater could not overcome my glee at thinking “Mr. Peppermint just said ‘fuck!’” every time he dropped the f-bomb.
From what I’ve heard, he’d think that was pretty funny. Thanks for sharing your gifts, Mr. Haynes.
