Jack Haley Jr.

John Joseph Haley, Jr. a.k.a. 'Jack Haley, Sr.'

Although he had already established himself as a substantial vaudeville, Broadway and film star, congenial light comedian and singer Jack Haley will forever be remembered as the Tin Woodsman in MGM's The Wizard of Oz (1939). Retired from the screen in the '50s, he started a highly successful second career in real estate. Haley has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6435 Hollywood Blvd.

He was born John Joseph Haley, Jr. (John Joseph Haley II) on 10 August 10 1898 in Boston Massachusetts, the son of John Joseph Haley Sr. (John Joseph Haley I) and Nellie Curley.

Haley began as a song-and-dance man and appeared on Broadway in the hits "Good News" and "Gay Paree". He made his first foray into movies in the silent "Broadway Madness" (1927), and returned three years later as a Paramount player in "Follow Thru" (1930).
It wasn't until he was signed by Fox, though that he came into his own as a genial second lead opposite Shirley Temple and Gloria Stuart ('Old Rose' in Titanic 1998) in such efforts as "Poor Little Rich Girl" (1936) and "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm" (1938), and "Alexander's Ragtime Band" (also 1938).

Haley was loaned to MGM to play the coach in "Pigskin Parade" (1936), which also marked the debut of Judy Garland, and again to replace an ill Buddy Ebsen (who had an allergic reaction to the makeup) in "The Wizard of Oz". Ironically, Ray Bolger was originally slated for the role but he balked and managed to convince the studio to allow he and Ebsen to switch roles. Haley, along with Ray Bolger and Bert Lahr, all shared similar professional backgrounds having played vaudeville and burlesque as well as the theater stage and worked well together. Nonetheless, he was a bit overshadowed by the showier antics of his co-stars and by the luminous tremulousness that Judy Garland brought to her role. Still, because "The Wizard of Oz" achieved classic status with repeated TV broadcasts, it remains his best-remembered role.

In the 1940s, Haley continued to lend support to major stars in films like "Moon Over Miami" (1941) with Betty Grable and Don Ameche, and "Higher and Higher" (1943) with Frank Sinatra.
But as the decade wound down and he inched toward his 50s, he was virtually wasted in fluff films like "Scared Stiff" (1945).

He retired from show business after "Make Mine Laughs" (1949) which reunited him with Ray Bolger, and a brief stint as host of TV's "Ford Star Revue" (NBC, 1950), finding a lucrative second career in real estate.

His son, John Joseph Haley III (aka Jack Haley Jr.), persuaded him to come out of retirement for a one-shot return to features with a cameo in 1970's "Norwood".
Although there were occasional TV roles (e.g., the ABC movie "Rolling Man"), the elderly Haley seemed uninterested in pursuing a career as a character actor, preferring to be remembered for his earlier work.

He married vaudeville dancer Florence "Flo" McFadden, a native of Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania on 25 February 25 1921, and they remained married until his death.
Flo Haley opened a successful beauty shop and counted many show people among her customers; the establishment became known informally as "Flo Haley's House of Corrections."

The couple had two children:

Their son, afore-mentioned Jack Haley, Jr., was a successful film producer and was known for his That's Entertainment! films with MGM, as well as producing or directing several Academy Awards telecasts. He was married to singer/actress Liza Minnelli, daughter of his father's Oz co-star Judy Garland. The marriage ended in divorce in 1979, and he was the engaged to Nancy Sinatra. Jack died in 2001.

Their daughter, Gloria Gertrude Haley, an actress of several films. She famously dated popular actors Mickey Rooney, Tom Drake, and DeForest Kelley ("Dr. McCoy" of Star Trek). She was married to composer, director and producer Buddy Bregman, and tp Dr. William Parnassus. she was involved in several charities along with her friend, actress Betty White (Rose Nyland of The Golden Girls). Gloria died in 2010.

Jack Haley and his wife Flo were the Godparents to Miel Roman, the daughter of singer Dick Roman and model Honey Merrill Roman.

In 1972, Haley made his daughter, Gloria, the sole owner of his written memoirs.
In 1978, she published them in the form of the hardcover book, Heart of the Tin Man.

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