Robby Ray Stewart is a fictional character that is loosely based on the actor himself from Hannah Montana, played by Billy Ray Cyrus.
Biography
Robby is a widower and father of Jackson and Miley. He gave up his career as the famous singer Robbie Ray[2] so he could concentrate on taking care of his children. Susan, his wife died three years before the show begins.[3] He is Hannah Montana's dad and manager/producer when Miley is Hannah, and he writes most of Hannah's songs. When he is Hannah's manager, he wears a mustache to cover up his identity from people who might recognize him as Miley Stewart's dad. In each episode, he typically gives his daughter advice, often utilizing reverse psychology. He is fond of sugar, seeing as in some episodes, he has to run a mile or so to treat himself for a slice of cake and he has constantly talked to Jackson about what sugar does to him. He also shown to have two mustaches, one he claims looks like Uncle Earl's and the other Aunt Pearl's.
[edit] Robbie Ray and Billy Ray
Robbie Ray is loosely based on Cyrus himself. Before Miley's birth he was a very famous country singer, but walked away from his career after the death of his wife, the cause of which has yet to be revealed. He or others in the show frequently refer to his real life career. The character occasionally refers to Cyrus' own songs, such as in the episode Ooo, Ooo, Itchy Woman, when he asks, "Linda, you know "Achy Breaky Heart"?" and also, in the episode It's a Mannequin's World, when he does the limbo, cracks his back, and says, "Oh, my Achy Breaky Back!" In the episode Get Down Study-udy-udy, Robby teaches Thor's parrot, Snowball, songs like "I Want My Mullet Back" and "Wanna Be Your Joe". During the crossover episode That's So Suite Life of Hannah Montana he performs Cyrus' song "I Want My Mullet Back", from Wanna Be Your Joe. In Torn Between Two Hannahs he sings "Stand", also from Wanna Be Your Joe, with Miley while Oliver and Lilly watch.
A long running joke of the series is the self-depreciated humor Robbie Ray uses, which are mostly jabs on Billy Ray himself. In the episode New Kid in School, he did a exaggerated "impersonation" of Billy Ray Cyrus even though he was wearing a mullet wig.
[edit] References to Cyrus' other TV roles
The characters on the show also refer to Cyrus' television appearances. For example, in the episode I Am Hannah, Hear Me Croak, Robby's son Jackson says that his dad would know a good doctor, a reference to Cyrus' former show Doc, and in the episode My Best Friend's Boyfriend he complained about all of the dancing shows on television, while Cyrus appeared on the fourth season of Dancing with the Stars, and in Everybody Was Best Friend Fighting, at the end a fortune teller, who was Billy Ray's dance partner in Dancing with the Stars, read his palm saying he would be dancing in front of many people. Robby replies by saying he's not much of a dancer, and the fortune teller says she can see that too. On one occasion, in the episode New Kid in School, he even wears a mullet wig and introduces himself as Billy Ray Cyrus. Another reference to Doc is Robby's line "Good night, Nurse Nichol" (from Achy Jakey Heart, Part 2). Nurse Nancy Nichol was a main character in the series, as well as the love interest of Dr. Clint Cassidy (played by Billy Ray), and, at the end of the series, Clint's wife. Also in the episode Sleepwalk this way he says "1,2, cha- cha- cha" and "I pulled the mullet, Mother, but it just wouldn't come off" in his sleep, a reference to Dancing with the Stars.
[edit] Robby and Miley
Robby, like all loving fathers, has trouble accepting the fact that his daughter is no longer a child like she used to be, and is growing up to face the world as an adult. He constantly (but not always) causes trouble or in any way, disrupts Miley's dates, the most noticeable examples coming from the two-part episode Achy Jakey Heart and I Can't Make You Love Hannah If You Don't. It could mean that he is not ready to see his daughter kiss a boy or have a romantic relationship, and therefore mature into an adult, or near-adult. The fact that he is overprotective further proves that he fears for Miley's security, even though she justifies herself that she is able to take care of herself many times. In other words, he occasionally believes that Miley is too "young" or "immature" to take care of herself and become an adult; "not ready yet" is a better choice of words. This could possibly be a result of his wife's death, resulting in him not wanting to lose his children as well.
In the episode It's a Mannequin's World, he spots a jacket (with Lilly's help) which he is certain will please Miley indefinitely. In the end, however, he buys not only a childish and stupid sweater for his daughter, but claims loudly, "Do I know my daughter or what!?" Miley is obviously unhappy, and tries to find a way to ruin it, just like two dresses from two birthdays in the past. She attempts to hide the fact from her father that the sweater is going to turn her into a laughing stock, and therefore she hates it, but in the end, Robby finds out. He is next seen sitting on the patio, and reveals subsequently to Miley that he wants to hold on to his "little girl". The psychological reason to why he buys her the sweater is because the sweater is childish, just like the child Miley he once knew and wants to hold on to. He once again finds it hard that his daughter is growing up, and maturing can be expressed in the way a person dresses; therefore, for three consecutive birthdays, Miley receives outfits that are meant for young children from Robby.
Perhaps the most obvious part about Robby's unwillingness to let Miley go is in the episode I Want You to Want Me ... To Go to Florida. When Miley asks her father to grant her permission to go to Florida with Roxy as her chaperon, Robby bluntly refuses, claiming that she "is not ready to do it by herself". This act of refusal leads to the first time father and daughter have ever argued full-bloodedly on the show, and the subsequent "I HATE YOU!" from Miley to her father. Miley is seen talking to Lilly saying "I have NEVER said anything like that to my dad before. Uch! I hate him for making me say I hate him!" Robby even tries to stop his Miley taking off from Malibu by intercepting her on the plane, until they realize it is too late to alight. Robby then turns and says, "Miley Stewart. I have never been so disappointed in you."
It was after Jackson says, "She wasn't ready...or you weren't?" and subsequently questions him why is he contradicting what he said to them about "Get ready, get set, go" when Robby discovers that due to his unwillingness to let go and watch his daughter fly solo (not literally), he cooped her up and tried to prevent her from taking flight. Bringing Miley and him together and engaging in a private talk, Robby sings his newly-written song titled "Ready, Set, Don't Go" which tells of how he tries to accept the fact that Miley will soon be leaving him and therefore relieving him of his duties as a father, while hiding from her that his heart is broken. He admits that "no Dad ever wants to see his little girl grow up. Every Dad know that someday she has to." It would seem that despite the difficulty of doing so, Robby finally chooses to let Miley go and watch her soar on her own. He gives her permission to go to Florida with Roxy, but otherwise on her own, without his "protection". It would seem that this part is the climax of the episode, telling about how Robby struggles with himself regarding Miley being poised to leave his side as an adult, before acceptance and letting her choose her own destiny.
The song itself, written by Billy Ray Cyrus, supposedly dedicated to his daughter Miley Cyrus, has meaningful lyrics that form the base of the possibly much of the episode I Want You to Want Me ... To Go to Florida. Nevertheless, Robby releases Miley from his protective arms at the end of the episode. It is still unclear whether he will have second thoughts about letting Miley go in the future, but this episode is clearly a milestone in his relationship with Miley, his loving growing and maturing daughter.
* Has a twin brother, Bobby Ray Stewart, and seven other brothers and four sisters, as seen in Money For Nothing, Guilt for Free.
* He plays a left-handed guitar, as shown on the second episode.
* Maddie Fitzpatrick (from TSL) and her mother are big fans of his music. Up until Maddie met him, her mother thought he had died.
* He competes with Jackson in pulling practical jokes, and with sports. He even feuds with his neighbor, Mr. Dontzig. (Paul Vogt).
* He often talks about his brother, Earl, who does weird things, which include playing celebrity ding-dong ditch.
* He has a tendency to fix a drink called Loco Hot Cocoa which leads to strange dreams.
* Robby, in some cases, is easily intimidated, even by his own children, as shown in "Bye Bye Ball" after Jackson accidentally destroys Miley's stuffed bear while killing a wasp.
* Although usually careful in protecting the Hannah secret, in "The Idol Side of Me" he finishes composing a Hannah song ("If We Were A Movie") in the presence of his nemesis neighbor, Albert Dontzig.
* He prefers not to share his personal bathroom with his kids (probably because he grew up in a family of nine kids and only one outhouse).
* Apparently, Uncle Earl was the handsome one in high school and Robby Ray had the "sexiest unibrow in the state of Tennessee".
* He is allergic to wasps, because they are attracted to his hair gel.
* He always takes care of his hair, you could almost say he's obsessed with it.
