Gary Hailes

Who is Gary Hailes?

Gary Hailes is an English actor.

During the 1980s he starred in several successful television series, including Woodentop, Grange Hill and the BBC soap opera EastEnders, where he played Barry Clark from 1986-89. Hailes' character was notable for being one half of the soap's first gay couple, introduced as the partner of the yuppie graphic designer, Colin Russell. In 1987 Hailes' character caused a great deal of controversy after EastEnders screened the first male-to-male kiss on a UK, prime time soap. The kiss prompted a multitude of complaints from angry viewers and a hostile backlash from the right wing press. Despite the fact that Hailes is heterosexual, he suffered from severe homophobia because of the homosexual role he played in EastEnders. He was attacked several times by members of the public who couldn't separate fact from fiction, which included being assaulted in a supermarket by a disapproving woman and strangled by a man at a petrol station. Even after he left the show he lost a job as a children's television presenter because of the so-called "gay tag".