Jack Haley

John Joseph Haley Jr. (August 10, 1898 – June 6, 1979) was an American actor, comedian, dancer, radio host, singer, drummer and vaudevillian. He was best known for his portrayal of the Tin Man and his farmhand counterpart Hickory in the 1939 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film '' The Wizard of Oz''.

Early life

Haley was born in Boston, Massachusetts on August 10, 1898 (although some sources say 1897). His Canadian father John Joseph Haley Sr. was a waiter by trade, and later a ship's steward. He died in the wreck of the schooner ''Charles A. Briggs'' at Nahant, Massachusetts on February 1, 1898, aged 31, before Jack was born. He had one older brother, William Anthony "Bill" Haley, a musician, who developed pneumonia which caused tuberculosis, and he died in 1915 at the age of twenty.

Career

Haley headlined in vaudeville as a song-and-dance comedian. One of his closest friends was Fred Allen, who would frequently mention "Mr. Jacob Haley of Newton Highlands, Massachusetts" on the air. Haley made a few phonograph records in 1923, and in the early 1930s starred in comedy shorts for Vitaphone in Brooklyn, New York. His wide-eyed, good-natured expression gained him supporting roles in musical feature films, including '' Poor Little Rich Girl'' with Shirley Temple, '' Higher and Higher'' with Frank Sinatra and the Irving Berlin musical ''Alexander's Ragtime Band''. Both ''Poor Little Rich Girl'' and ''Alexander's Ragtime Band'' were released by Twentieth Century-Fox. Haley was under contract to them and appeared in the Fox films '' Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm'' and '' Pigskin Parade'', marking his first appearance with Judy Garland.
Haley hosted a radio show from 1937 to 1939 known to many as ''The Jack Haley Show''. The first season (1937–1938), the show was sponsored by Log Cabin Syrup and was known as ''The Log Cabin Jamboree''. The next season (1938–1939), the show was sponsored by Wonder Bread and was known as ''The Wonder Show''. During the second season the show featured Gale Gordon and Lucille Ball as regular radio performers.

Haley returned to musical comedies in the 1940s. Most of his '40s work was for RKO Radio Pictures. He left the studio in 1947 when he refused to appear in a remake of RKO's '' Seven Keys to Baldpate''. Phillip Terry took the role. He subsequently went into real estate, taking guest roles in television series over the next couple of decades.

"The Tin Man" in ''The Wizard of Oz''

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer hired Haley for the part of the Tin Man in ''The Wizard of Oz''. He replaced song-and-dance comedian Buddy Ebsen, who had suffered a severe allergic reaction after inhaling aluminum powder from his silver face makeup, which triggered a congenital bronchial condition; the dust settled in Ebsen's lungs and, within a few days of principal photographic testing, he found himself struggling to breathe. For Haley, to avoid the same problem, the dust was converted into a paste—even so, the paste caused an eye infection that sidelined Haley for four shooting days. Surgical treatment averted serious or permanent damage to Haley's eyes. Haley also portrayed the Tin Man's Kansas counterpart, Hickory Twicker, one of Aunt Em and Uncle Henry's farmhands.

Haley did not remember the makeup or the costume fondly. Interviewed about the film years later by Tom Snyder, he related that many fans assumed making the film was a fun experience. Haley said, "Like hell it was. It was work!" For his role as the Tin Woodman, Haley spoke in the same soft tone he used when reading bedtime stories to his children. ''Oz'' was one of only three films Haley made for MGM. The others were '' Pick a Star'', a 1937 Hal Roach production distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and '' Mr. Cinderella'' in 1936.

Personal life

Haley was raised Roman Catholic. He was a member of the Good Shepherd Parish and the Catholic Motion Picture Guild in Beverly Hills, California. His nephew Bob Dornan served as a Republican congressman for California.

Final years and death

On June 1, 1979, Haley suffered a heart attack. He died on June 6, 1979, at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles at the age of 80. His funeral was held at the Church of the Good Shepherd and the eulogy was given by Ray Bolger who concluded it by saying, "It's going to be awfully lonely on that Yellow Brick Road now, Jack."

Haley is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California.

Haley's autobiography, ''Heart of the Tin Man'', was published in 2000.

Film

Short films

Broadway

References

External links

*
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haley, Jack
1898 births
1979 deaths
20th Century Studios contract players
20th-century American male actors
20th-century American male singers
20th-century American singers
American male comedians
American male film actors
American male musical theatre actors
American male stage actors
American people of Canadian descent
American vaudeville performers
Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City
Catholics from New Jersey
Comedians from Boston
Comedians from Atlantic County, New Jersey
Male actors from Boston
Male actors from New Jersey
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract players
Musicians from Atlantic City, New Jersey
Paramount Pictures contract players
RKO Pictures contract players
Actors from Atlantic City, New Jersey