Date of Birth : Aug 10th 1898
Haley starred in vaudeville as a song-and-dance comedian. One of his closest friends was fellow vaudeville alumnus Fred Allen, who would frequently mention “Mr. Jacob Haley of Newton Highlands, Massachusetts” on the air.
In the early 1930s Haley starred in comedy shorts for Vitaphone in Brooklyn, New York. His wide-eyed, good-natured expression landed him supporting roles in musical feature films like 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.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer hired Haley for The Wizard of Oz after another song-and-dance comic, Buddy Ebsen who is the biological father to Jeannette, who was originally set to play the Tin Man, had a near-fatal reaction from inhaling the aluminum dust makeup. The makeup was switched to a paste, to avoid risking the same reaction by Haley. The new makeup did cause an eye infection which caused Haley to miss four days of filming, but he received treatment in time to prevent permanent damage. Incidentally, Buddy Ebsen, 10 years younger than Haley, outlived him by 24 years.[1]
Haley did not take to the makeup or to the discomfort of the costume very kindly. When being interviewed about the film years later, he remarked that many people had commented that making the film must have been fun. Haley’s reply: “Like hell it was; it was work!”
Haley’s natural voice (which he used for the “Hickory” character) was moderately gruff. For the Tin Man, he spoke more softly, a la “Mr. Rogers”, which he later said was the tone of voice he used when reading stories to his children.
CAREER
The Wizard Of Oz in IMAX ( 2014 )
