# 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. His 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, when Jack wasn't born yet. 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

| Year | Title | Role | Director/Studio | Notes |
| 1927 | Broadway Madness | Radio Announcer | Burton L. King Excellent Pictures | Film debut |
| 1930 | Follow Thru | Jack Martin | Lloyd Corrigan and Laurence Schwab Paramount | Performer: Button Up Your Overcoat |
| 1933 | Mr. Broadway | Jack Haley | Johnnie Walker and Edgar G. Ulmer Broadway-Hollywood Productions | |
| 1933 | Sitting Pretty | Pete Pendleton | Harry Joe Brown Paramount | Performer: You're Such a Comfort to Me; I Wanna Meander with Miranda and Good Morning Glory |
| 1934 | Here Comes the Groom | Mike Scanlon | Edward Sedgwick Paramount | |
| 1935 | Spring Tonic | Sykes | Clyde Bruckman Fox Film Corporation | |
| 1935 | Redheads on Parade | Peter Mathews | Norman Z. McLeod Fox Film Corporation | |
| 1935 | The Girl Friend | Henry H. Henry | Edward Buzzell Columbia Pictures | Performer: What is This Power and Two Together |
| 1935 | Coronado | Chuck Hornbostel | Norman Z. McLeod Paramount | Performer: All's Well in Coronado by the Sea and Keep Your Fingers Crossed |
| 1936 | F-Man | Johnny Dime | Edward F. Cline Paramount | |
| 1936 | Poor Little Rich Girl | Jimmy Dolan | Irving Cummings 20th Century Fox | Performer: You've got to Eat your Spinach Baby and Military Man |
| 1936 | Mr. Cinderella | Joe Jenkins/ Aloysius P. Merriweather | Edward Sedgwick MGM | |
| 1936 | Pigskin Parade | Winston 'Slug' Winters | David Butler 20th Century Fox | Performer: You Do the Darndest Things Baby and The Balboa |
| 1937 | Pick a Star | Joe Jenkins | Edward Sedgwick MGM | Performer: Pick A Star and I've Got It Bad |
| 1937 | She Had to Eat | Danny Decker | Malcolm St. Clair 20th Century Fox | |
| 1937 | Wake Up and Live | Eddie Kane | Sidney Lanfield 20th Century Fox | |
| 1937 | Danger – Love at Work | Henry MacMorrow | Otto Preminger 20th Century Fox | Performer: Danger Love at Work Uncredited |
| 1937 | Ali Baba Goes to Town | Himself – Cameo | David Butler 20th Century Fox | Uncredited |
| 1938 | Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm | Orville Smithers | Allan Dwan 20th Century Fox | Performer: Alone With You |
| 1938 | Alexander's Ragtime Band | Davey Lane | Henry King 20th Century Fox | Performer: Oh! How I Hate to Get Up in the Morning; That International Rag and In My Harem (DVD extra only) |
| 1938 | Hold That Co-ed | Wilber Peters | George Marshall 20th Century Fox | |
| 1938 | Thanks for Everything | Henry Smith | William A. Seiter 20th Century Fox | |
| 1939 | The Wizard of Oz | The Tin Man / Hickory | Victor Fleming MGM | (writer, uncredited) Performer: If I Only Had a Heart and The Merry Old Land of Oz |
| 1941 | Moon Over Miami | Jack O'Hara | Walter Lang 20th Century Fox | Performer: Is That Good? |
| 1941 | Navy Blues | 'Powerhouse' Bolton | Lloyd Bacon Warner Bros. | Performer: When are we Going to Land Abroad |
| 1942 | Beyond the Blue Horizon | Squidge Sullivan | Alfred Santell Paramount | |
| 1944 | Higher and Higher | Mike O'Brien | Tim Whelan RKO Pictures | Performer: Today I'm a Debutante and The Music Stopped |
| 1944 | Take It Big | Jack North | Frank McDonald Paramount | Performer: Take It Big |
| 1944 | One Body Too Many | Albert Tuttle | Frank McDonald Paramount | |
| 1945 | Scared Stiff | Larry Elliot | Frank McDonald Paramount | |
| 1945 | George White's Scandals | Jack Evans | Felix E. Feist RKO Pictures | |
| 1945 | Sing Your Way Home | Steve Kimball | Anthony Mann RKO Pictures | |
| 1946 | People Are Funny | Pinky Wilson | Sam White Paramount | Performer: Hey Jose |
| 1946 | Vacation in Reno | Jack Caroll | Leslie Goodwins RKO Pictures | Last major film before retirement from motion pictures |
| 1970 | Norwood | Mr. Reese | Jack Haley, Jr. Paramount | Directed by his son producer/director Jack Haley Jr. |
| 1977 | New York, New York | Master of Ceremonies | Martin Scorsese United Artists | This film marked Jack Haley's final screen appearance. Uncredited, (final film role) |

## Short films

| Year | Movie title | Role | Notes |
| 1928 | Haleyisms | Jack Haley | Also stars his wife Flo McFadden; Vitaphone production reel #2269 |
| 1930 | The 20th Amendment | Wallace Moore | |
| 1930 | Success | Elmer | Performer: "Just a Gigolo"; Vitaphone production reel #1257–1258 |
| 1932 | The Imperfect Lover | | Vitaphone production reel #1324–1325 |
| 1932 | Absent Minded Abner | Abner | Vitaphone production reel #1372–1373 |
| 1932 | Sherlock's Home | | Vitaphone production reel #1441–1442 |
| 1932 | Then Came the Yawn | | |
| 1933 | The Build Up | | Vitaphone production reel #1444–1445 |
| 1933 | Wrongorilla | Elmer | Vitaphone production reel #1486-1484 |
| 1933 | Hollywood on Parade No. A-9 | Himself | |
| 1933 | An Idle Roomer | | Vitaphone production reel #1531–1532 |
| 1933 | Nothing but the Tooth | Smilie Jones | Performer: "Smiles"; Vitaphone production reel #1542–1543 |
| 1933 | Salt Water Daffy | Elmer Wagonbottom | |
| 1939 | Screen Snapshots Series 18, No. 9 | Himself | Documentary/News Reel |
| 1946 | Screen Snapshots: The Skolsky Party | Himself | Documentary/News Reel |
| 1946 | Screen Snapshots: Famous Fathers and Sons | Himself | Documentary/News Reel |

## Broadway

| Title | Role | Run | Theater | Notes |
| Round the Town | Jack Haley | May 21, 1924 – May 31, 1924 | Century Promenade Theatre | 15 performances |
| Gay Paree | Jack Haley | August 18, 1925 – January 30, 1926 | Shubert Theatre | 181 performances |
| Gay Paree | Jack Haley | November 9, 1926 – April 9, 1927 | Winter Garden Theatre | 192 performances |
| Follow Thru | Jack Martin | January 9, 1929 – December 21, 1929 | Chanin's 46th Theatre | 401 performances Sang: Button Up Your Overcoat with Zelma O'Neal In 1930, he starred in Technicolor's film version |
| Free For All | Steve Potter Jr. | September 8, 1931 – September 19, 1931 | Manhattan Theatre | 15 performances |
| Take a Chance | Jack Stanley | November 26, 1932 – July 1, 1933 | Apollo Theatre | 243 performances |
| Higher and Higher | Zachary Ash | April 4, 1940 – June 15, 1940 | Shubert Theatre | 84 performances |
| Higher and Higher | Zachary Ash | August 5, 1940 – August 24, 1940 | Shubert Theatre | 24 performances In 1943, he starred with Frank Sinatra in film version |
| Show Time | Jack Haley | September 16, 1942 – April 3, 1943 | Broadhurst Theatre | 342 performances |
| Inside U.S.A. | Jack Haley | April 30, 1948 – February 19, 1949 | New Century Theatre and Majestic Theatre | 399 performances |