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Jackie Earle Haley | |
|---|---|
 Haley at theA Nightmare on Elm Street panel at WonderCon, 2010 | |
| Born | Jack Earle Haley (1961-07-14)July 14, 1961 (age 64) Los Angeles,California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1967–present |
| Spouse(s) | Sherry Vaughan (m. 1979;div. ??) Jennifer Hargrave (m. 1985;div. ??) |
| Children | 2 |
Jack Earle Haley (born July 14, 1961)[1] is an American actor.[2] His earliest roles included Moocher inBreaking Away (1979) and Kelly Leak inThe Bad News Bears (1976),The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training (1977) andThe Bad News Bears Go to Japan (1978). After spending many years as a producer and director of television commercials, he revived his acting career with a supporting role inAll the King's Men (2006). This was followed by his performance inLittle Children (2006), for which he was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actor.[3][4]
His subsequent notable roles include theantiheroRorschach inWatchmen (2009),[5] horror iconFreddy Krueger inthe remake ofA Nightmare on Elm Street (2010),[6] and Grewishka, a cyborg criminal inAlita: Battle Angel (2019).[7][8] He playedOdin Quincannon in the first season (2016) ofPreacher andThe Terror in the first season (2016–18) ofThe Tick.
Haley was born and raised in theNorthridge neighborhood ofLos Angeles,[9] the son of Haven Earle "Bud" Haley, a radio show host/disc jockey and actor,[10][11] and Iris D. Douglas.
Haley’s first role came at age five, when he was cast as the voice ofDennis the Menace in a series of animated commercials.[2] He reprised the role of Dennis in two episodes ofCuriosity Shop, his earliest known role in a television series.[12]
Haley has appeared in numerous films, includingJohn Schlesinger'sThe Day of the Locust,Damnation Alley, andLosin' It, as well as guest roles on TV. A well-knownchild actor, he starred as Kelly Leak in the comedyThe Bad News Bears, as well as the sequelsThe Bad News Bears in Breaking Training andThe Bad News Bears Go to Japan.
He played Moocher inPeter Yates's acclaimed 1979 filmBreaking Away and later in the short-lived TV series of the same name. Throughout the 1970s, he often played tough, angry, long-haired misfits; although in his feature debut, the offbeat 1972 filmThe Outside Man, he played Eric, a boy so desperately lonely that he tries to impress the mob assassin holding him and his mother (Georgia Engel) hostage. Haley also shot a pilot for an American version of the popular British comedyThe Young Ones titledOh, No! Not THEM!. In 1974 he played Norm, a misfit kid, in the 12th episode of the Saturday morning children's showShazam![13]
Haley's acting career went dormant during most of the 1990s and early 2000s, when he moved toSan Antonio. He eventually turned to directing,[14] finding success as a producer and director of televisioncommercials.[15]
With the recommendation ofSean Penn, Haley returned to acting in 2006, first appearing inSteven Zaillian'sAll the King's Men alongside Penn as Sugar Boy, his bodyguard, before giving a critically acclaimed performance as a recentlyparoledsex offender inTodd Field'sLittle Children. He stated that his preparation for the role was greatly influenced by the relationship shared between his mother and his brother True, who battled aheroin addiction before he died of anoverdose.[16] Haley was nominated for anAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actor for this portrayal and in 2007 was invited to join theAcademy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.[17]
Haley owns a production company, JEH Productions, in San Antonio. In 2008, he appeared inSemi-Pro and starred inWinged Creatures withKate Beckinsale,Guy Pearce andDakota Fanning.[18] He also stars inZack Snyder's 2009 adaptation of theAlan Moore graphic novelWatchmen asRorschach, a masked vigilante working to find the identity of a costumed hero killer, a role which earned him praise from many reviewers.[19] The film also reunited him withLittle Children co-starPatrick Wilson who played Nite Owl II, Rorschach's former partner. Also in 2010, Haley appeared inShutter Island, directed byMartin Scorsese,[20] as a patient of a hospital for the criminallyinsane.
In 2010, Haley playedFreddy Krueger in theA Nightmare on Elm Street remake.[21][22] He signed to play the role in a sequel, which was not produced.[23]
Haley has dismissed rumors that he accompaniedJohnny Depp to auditions forWes Craven's originalA Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) to audition for the role Depp was eventually cast in.[24] Haley auditioned for the role of the film's antagonist, Freddy Krueger, but ended up losing out toRobert Englund for the 1984 version of the film.[2][unreliable source?]
Haley was a series regular onHuman Target as Guerrero, an ally of the main character, Christopher Chance. The series premiered on January 17, 2010 on Fox,[25][26] and ran for two seasons before being cancelled in May 2011.
He playedWillie Loomis in the2012 film adaptation ofDark Shadows, directed byTim Burton, and playedConfederate States Vice PresidentAlexander H. Stephens inLincoln, directed bySteven Spielberg.[27] He played the supervillain The Terror in Amazon's re-boot ofThe Tick.[28]
Haley's first marriage was to Sherry Vaughan in 1979. He has two children: a son, Christopher (born 1986), and a daughter, Olivia (born 1998), by his second wife, Jennifer Haley. He married his third wife, Amelia Cruz, in 2004 and they live in San Antonio.[29] Haley holds black belts inKenpo andTaekwondo.[30]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Curiosity Shop | Dennis the Menace (voice) | 2 episodes |
| 1972 | Wait Till Your Father Gets Home | Jamie Boyle (voice) | 11 episodes |
| 1973 | The Partridge Family | Rusty | Episode: "The Strike-Out King" |
| 1973 | Marcus Welby, M.D. | Tony | Episode: "Nguyen" |
| 1974 | These Are the Days | Danny Day (voice) | 16 episodes |
| 1974 | Valley of the Dinosaurs | Greg Butler (voice) | 16 episodes |
| 1974 | Planet of the Apes | Kraik | Episode: "The Legacy" |
| 1975 | Shazam! | Norm Briggs | Episode: "The Delinquent" |
| 1975 | The Waltons | Tom | Episode: "The Emergence" |
| 1979 | The Love Boat | Paul Turner's "son" | 2 episodes |
| 1980 | Insight | Ernie Briggs | Episode: "Chicken" |
| 1980–1981 | Breaking Away | Moocher | 8 episodes |
| 1981 | Every Stray Dog and Kid | Tommy Ryan | Television film |
| 1983 | American Playhouse | Seventeen-and-Desperate | Episode: "Miss Lonelyhearts" |
| 1983 | Whiz Kids | Harlan | Episode: "A Chip Off the Old Block" |
| 1985 | MacGyver | Turk | Episode: "Last Stand" |
| 1986 | Murder, She Wrote | Billy Willetts | Episode: "Powder Keg" |
| 1990 | Oh, No! Not THEM! | Adrian | Television film |
| 1990 | Gravedale High | Gill Waterman (voice) | 13 episodes |
| 1991 | Get a Life | Cousin Donald | Episode: "Chris vs. Donald" |
| 1992 | Renegade | Stick | Episode: "Mother Courage" |
| 1993 | Prophet of Evil: The Ervil LeBaron Story | Eddie Marston | Television film |
| 2010–2011 | Human Target | Guerrero | 25 episodes |
| 2016 | Preacher | Odin Quincannon | 8 episodes |
| 2016–2017 | The Tick | The Terror | 11 episodes |
| 2018 | Narcos: Mexico | Jim Ferguson | 2 episodes |
| 2022 | The First Lady | Louis Howe | 5 episodes[33] |
| 2023 | Killing It | Troy Chubner | Multiple episodes[34] |
| Year | Title | Voice role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Slab Boys | Hector McKenzie | Playhouse Theatre, New York City |
| Year | Title | Voice role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Watchmen: The End Is Nigh | Walter Kovacs / Rorschach | |
| 2014 | The Evil Within | Ruvik | [35] |
