Jack Haley

John Joseph “Jack” Haley (August 10, 1898 – June 6, 1979) was an American stage, radio, and film actor best known for his portrayal of the Tin Man and Kansas farmworker Hickory in The Wizard of Oz (1939).

Haley starred in vaudeville as a song-and-dance comedian before an early 1930s move into 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 (1936), and Pigskin Parade (also 1936), the latter with Judy Garland.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer hired Haley for what would become his most famous part, the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz (1939), after another song-and-dance comic, Buddy Ebsen, who was originally set to play the Tin Man, had a near-fatal reaction from inhaling the aluminum dust makeup. This character was known as the Tin Woodsman in the original book.

The make-up was switched to a paste, to avoid risking the same reaction for Haley. The new make-up did cause an eye infection which caused Haley to miss four days of filming, but he received treatment in time to prevent permanent damage. Haley did not take to the make-up or to the discomfort of the costume very kindly. When being interviewed about the film years later by Tom Snyder, 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 Woodsman, he spoke more softly, which he later said was the tone of voice he used when reading stories to his children. 

Unlike the costumes of the Scarecrow (in the National Museum of American History) and Cowardly Lion (two sets in private hands), that of the Tin Man “was largely destroyed”.  Haley also portrayed the Tin Man’s Kansas counterpart, Hickory (one of Aunt Em and Uncle Harry’s farmhands).

The film was nominated for several Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Visual Effects. In the Best Picture category, it lost to another MGM film, Gone with the Wind, another film directed by Victor Fleming. E.Y. Harburg and Harold Arlen won the award for Best Song (Over The Rainbow) and Best Original Music Score. Garland also received a special Academy Juvenile Award that year, for “Best Performances by a Juvenile” (the award was also for her role in the film version of Babes in Arms).

The Wizard of Oz did not receive an Oscar for its special effects — that award went to the 1939 film version of The Rains Came, that decision is inconceivable today. Additional nominations went to Cedric Gibbons and William A. Horning for Art Direction, and Hal Rosson for Cinematography (color), but both of those awards were won by Gone With the Wind. There was no award for makeup then, so Jack Dawn could not receive an award for his detailed makeup for the Oz fantasy characters.

In June 2008, AFI revealed its “Ten top Ten”—the best ten American films in ten genres—after polling over 1,500 film artists, critics and historians. The Wizard of Oz was acknowledged as the best film in the fantasy genre.

Haley returned to musical comedies in the 1940s. Most of his ’40s work was for RKO Radio Pictures. He died of a heart attack on June 6, 1979 in Los Angeles, California, aged 80. Only a short time previously, he had made an appearance at that year’s Academy Awards ceremony with Ray Bolger, who had played the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz. He was still active only a week prior to his death. He is buried in Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California.

August 10, 2012 | Categories: Biography, Biography: ACTORS | Tags: Judy Garland, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, The Tin Woodsman, The Wizard of Oz, Tin Man | Leave a comment