Robby Ray Stewart is a fictional character from the

Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...

series ''

Hannah Montana ''Hannah Montana'' is an American teen sitcom created by Michael Poryes, Rich Correll, and Barry O'Brien that aired on Disney Channel for four seasons between March2006 and January2011. The series centers on Miley Stewart (played by Miley Cy ...

'', portrayed by

Billy Ray Cyrus William Ray Cyrus ( ; born August 25, 1961) is an American singer, songwriter and actor. Having released 16 studio albums and 53 singles since 1992, he is known for his hit single "Achy Breaky Heart", which topped the U.S. Hot Country Songs cha ...

. Robby is the widowed single father of Jackson Stewart ( Jason Earles) and

Miley Stewart Miley Ray Stewart is a fictional character and central protagonist of the Disney Channel television series ''Hannah Montana'', portrayed by Miley Cyrus. She first appeared on television in the pilot episode " Lilly, Do You Want to Know a Secr ...

(

Miley Cyrus Miley Ray Cyrus ( , born Destiny Hope Cyrus, November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and director. Regarded as a contemporary pop icon, Cyrus has been recognized for her evolving artistry and image reinventions. She is ...

). He appears in all episodes in seasons 1 and 2, is absent for 3 episodes in season 3, and is absent for 1 episode in season 4. The character is based on Jed Clampett, the main character of ''

The Beverly Hillbillies ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from 1962 to 1971. It had an ensemble cast featuring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer Jr. as the Clampetts, a poor backwoods family ...

'', even to the point of using Jed's famous catchphrase "Well doggies!"; the character’s name of “Robby Ray Stewart” is also a clear play on the portrayer’s real name.

Casting

Billy Ray Cyrus auditioned for the part along with two other actors. He was only asked to audition after his daughter Miley had been given the lead role. After he was offered the role, Billy Ray at first had reservations about accepting it, saying "The last thing I would want to do is screw up Miley's show." Miley admitted that it was "weird" at first having her real-life father play the role of her television dad, but later described the situation as "really good." Billy Ray provided much of the inspiration for the character which largely became a fictionalised version of himself.

Character biography

According to the ''Hannah Montana''

backstory A backstory, background story, background, or legend is a set of events invented for a plot, preceding and leading up to that plot. In acting, it is the history of the character before the drama begins, and is created during the actor's prepara ...

, Robby was born on July 6, 1968 and grew up in fictional Bufford County, Tennessee. He has a large family with eight brothers and sisters. He has a twin brother named Bobby Ray (also played by

) and a brother named Earl who is seen in the episode '' (We're So Sorry) Uncle Earl'', and often spoken of. His mother is Ruthie Ray Stewart ( Vicki Lawrence), known to his children as "Mamaw." He has a close relationship with

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actress, and philanthropist, known primarily as a country music, country musician. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton's debut album ...

who is the godmother of his two children; she is also the real-life godmother of

, who plays the starring role of Miley Stewart a.k.a. Hannah Montana. In his early years, Robby, using the stage name "Robby Ray," was a successful

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

singer-songwriter charting three number one hits and two top fives. He also won a music video of the year award and an International Music Award for artist of the year. He was also honored with a diamond on the Hollywood Parade of Diamonds (a parody of the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of 2,813 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood dist ...

) prestigiously located in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre. After his wife Susan (

Brooke Shields Brooke Christa Shields (born May 31, 1965) is an American actress. A child model starting at the age of 11 months, Shields gained widespread notoriety at age 12 for her leading role in Louis Malle's film ''Pretty Baby (1978 film), Pretty Baby ...

) died (April 12, 1969 – December 27, 2002), he retired from his career to look after his two children. Soon afterwards, he moved the family from Crowley Corners, Tennessee, to California where Miley became famous as Hannah Montana. He then works as her

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

, producer, and primary songwriter. On a few rare occasions, he also performs on stage with Hannah. As Hannah's manager, Robby wears a fake moustache to hide his identity to keep Miley's secret and sometimes disguises his voice. This ruse, along with his sudden abandonment of his career, may have led one fan ( Maddie Fitzpatrick's mother) to believe that he was dead. However, this disguise is often ineffective at preventing his fans from recognizing him, and several times he even publicly identifies himself as Robby Ray, the father of Hannah Montana. To those who are unfamiliar with his previous career, he is known simply as Mr. Montana. It seems that both aliases effectively conceal his identity as Mr. Stewart. In '' Hannah Montana: The Movie'', he temporarily moves the family back to Tennessee. There he meets a woman named Lorelai ( Melora Hardin) who becomes his love interest. He had previously dated real estate agent Margo Diamond and Lilly Truscott's mother Heather (

Heather Locklear Heather Deen Locklear (born September 25, 1961) is an American actress known for her role as Amanda Woodward on '' Melrose Place'' (1993–1999), for which she received four consecutive Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress – Television Se ...

) in California.

Similarity to Billy Ray Cyrus

Billy Ray Cyrus inspired many aspects of the Robby Ray Stewart character. Both men are country musicians from Tennessee and share a middle name. Cyrus's real-life relationship with then-teenage daughter Miley Cyrus was similar to Robby's relationship with the character of Miley Stewart in the show. Miley Cyrus has said in interviews that the show's writers received inspiration for the show by listening to her and her father talking. Also, the depiction of Robby Ray as a has-been country star is meant to poke fun at Cyrus's own music career, which by some was labeled a one hit wonder before the popularity of ''Hannah Montana''. The character’s name is also a pun on Cyrus's real name.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Robby Ray Billy Ray Cyrus Hannah Montana characters Fictional writers Fictional characters from Malibu, California Fictional managers Fictional singers Fictional characters from Tennessee Fictional twins Television characters introduced in 2006 American male characters in sitcoms