March 15, 2026
“A story about the fourth Hayter brother"
One of the toughest questions I get asked is “How is your brother doing?” The problem is I’ve got three brothers and none of them do the same thing. If we didn’t have similar looks and body language, I would think we had different parents.
Larry is the eldest of the group. The guy started working after school in the ninth grade. That’s pretty much the only way he could get money, because Dad worked at a refinery and had trouble keeping seven kids in food, clothing and a home. Larry was a great baseball player, and when the family played flag football during the holidays, he was an animal.
What he does now is read. During my lifetime I have never seen as many books as he has read. He now finds himself halfway through a book before he realizes he’s already read.
Dennis is the second brother in the Hayter family. Dennis and I are close. He was the best athlete in the family. Baseball, football, and track were his three major sports. I played in all three, and couldn’t hold a candle to my big brother. Right now, he’s got leg issues, so I can now run faster than he does.
The youngest of the brothers is Big Al. We called him that, because he started out scrawny. It wasn’t long before he grew into the name Big Al. He was big enough to break me in two. I don’t know why God allows certain people to suddenly become taller. Basketball and football were his specialties. At least they were until he started acting.
In the field of acting, Al surpassed all three of his brothers. I thought I was a fairly good actor until Al started. Do you know how many movies he’s been in? I don’t either. I had small parts in five or more. I was never in a movie in which I got paid. Al has never been in a movie or a commercial in which he was not paid.
One of Al’s lesser-known movies was shot in Conroe. I remember it well, because I was there when Daniel Baldwin’s character slugged Al, knocking him to the concrete. I thought for sure my brother would never act again. However, after director Chuck Walker, said “Cut!” I went over to ask Al how bad he was hurt. He said his head never hit the street. That’s when I knew for sure he was a great actor, because it sure looked to me like he cracked his skull.
I’m not sure how many westerns or commercials Big Al has appeared in. I was present during the shooting of three of them. In one of his films, I was hired to chauffeur the actors. It was a horrible job. Do you know how much money the actors were making? I don’t either. Al wouldn’t even tell me. But what really irked me was when an actor would ask me to pull over at a store and loan him some money for cigarettes, something to drink, or to eat. None of them thought of bringing money with them.
Nor did they think to pay me back. The actor who still owes me the most is Billy Zane. Do you have any idea what it’s like to drive rich actors thither and yon, while paying for their stuff? I was making $50 a day, which amounted to about five dollars an hour.
However, I must say that the experience was worth it. The best part was getting to meet George Kennedy. Al even invited me to be in a photo with them. I haven’t met nearly as many actors as Al has, but I’ve gotta tell you, George Kennedy was a most pleasant and humble person.
On one of his trips to California to see Eric Braeden’s star being placed on the walk of fame, Al saw George Kennedy near by. He walked over to him and said, “I’ll bet you don’t remember me.” Kennedy looked at him and said, “Of course, I do, Reverend.” In the movie the two of them were in, Al played a preacher who rode with a group of thugs. I remember Arman Assante, Billy Zane, and a few others whose names escaped me. In the movie Eric Braeden played the good guy, who the thugs thought they had killed.
The movie is about Braeden going around killing each of the bad guys. Though playing the roll of a preacher, Al rode with the bad guys. When Eric Braeden’s character found him, he hung my kid brother on a cross inside a church building. That’s why Kennedy called him Reverend.
I don’t know what or when Al’s next movie or commercial will be filmed. I’ll be among the last to know. I don’t think he likes me going on about him, for fear I’ll include him in an article. That’s just the way some famously humble people behave.
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