Jack Earle Haley (born July 14, 1961) is an American actor. His earliest roles included Moocher in Breaking Away (1979) and Kelly Leak in The Bad News Bears (1976), The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training (1977) and The 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 in All the King's Men (2006). This was followed by his performance in Little Children (2006), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
His subsequent notable roles include the antihero Rorschach in Watchmen (2009), horror icon Freddy Krueger in the remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010), and Grewishka, a cyborg criminal in Alita: Battle Angel (2019). He played Odin Quincannon in the first season (2016) of Preacher and The Terror in the first season (2016–18) of The Tick.
Early life Haley was born and raised in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles,Yahoo.com the son of Haven Earle "Bud" Haley, a radio show host/disc jockey and actor, and Iris D. Douglas.
Career Haley’s first role came at age five, when he was cast as the voice of Dennis the Menace in a series of animated commercials. He reprised the role of Dennis in two episodes of Curiosity Shop, his earliest known role in a television series.
Haley has appeared in numerous films, including John Schlesinger's The Day of the Locust, Damnation Alley, and Losin' It, as well as guest roles on TV. A well-known child actor, he starred as Kelly Leak in the comedy The Bad News Bears, as well as the sequels The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training and The Bad News Bears Go to Japan.
He played Moocher in Peter Yates's acclaimed 1979 film Breaking 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 film The 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 comedy The Young Ones titled Oh, No! Not THEM!. In 1974 he played Norm, a misfit kid, in the 12th episode of the Saturday morning children's show Shazam!
Haley's acting career went dormant during most of the 1990s and early 2000s, when he moved to San Antonio. He wrote the script for what would become the 1990 film Playroom, then titled Schizo. Haley intended to serve as director; this role was instead given to then first-time director Manny Coto. He eventually began directing and producing television commercials, which proved to be successful for him.Jackie Earle Haley: 'Bad News' to Oscar Gold
With the recommendation of Sean Penn, Haley returned to acting in 2006, first appearing in Steven Zaillian's All the King's Men alongside Penn as Sugar Boy, his bodyguard, before giving a critically acclaimed performance as a recently paroled sex offender in Todd Field's Little 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 a heroin addiction before he died of an overdose. Haley was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for this portrayal and in 2007 was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Haley owns a production company, JEH Productions, in San Antonio. In 2008, he appeared in Semi-Pro and starred in Winged Creatures with Kate Beckinsale, Guy Pearce and Dakota Fanning.on 2009-28-04 He also stars in Zack Snyder's 2009 adaptation of the Alan Moore graphic novel Watchmen as Rorschach, a masked vigilante working to find the identity of a costumed hero killer, a role which earned him praise from many reviewers. The film also reunited him with Little Children co-star Patrick Wilson who played Nite Owl II, Rorschach's former partner. Also in 2010, Haley appeared in Shutter Island, directed by Martin Scorsese,Why Nightmare on Elm Street went back for more shooting as a patient of a hospital for the criminally insane.
In 2010, Haley played Freddy Krueger in the A Nightmare on Elm Street remake. He signed to play the role in a sequel, which was not produced.
Haley has dismissed rumors that he accompanied Johnny Depp to auditions for Wes Craven's original A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) to audition for the role Depp was eventually cast in.
Haley was a series regular on Human Target as Guerrero, an ally of the main character, Christopher Chance. The series premiered on January 17, 2010 on Fox,McDonnel, Jen TV tonight: Human Target The Gazette December 22, 2010 and ran for two seasons before being cancelled in May 2011.
He played Willie Loomis in the 2012 film adaptation of Dark Shadows, directed by Tim Burton, and played Confederate States Vice President Alexander H. Stephens in Lincoln, directed by Steven Spielberg. He played the supervillain The Terror in Amazon's re-boot of The Tick.
Personal life 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, Texas. Haley holds black belts in Kenpo and Taekwondo.
Filmography
Film Year Title Role Notes1972Eric1975Adore Loomis1976Kelly Leak1977Damnation AlleyBillyFilmed from June - August, 1976. Released October, 1977.1978Kelly Leak1979Breaking AwayMoocher1983Losin' ItDave1985Little Joe1991DollmanBraxton Red1992NemesisEinsteinManiac Cop III: Badge of SilenceFrank Jessup2006All the King's MenRoderick "Sugar Boy" EllisLittle ChildrenRonald James McGorvey Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting ActorDallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting ActorIowa Film Critics Award for Best Supporting ActorNational Society of Film Critics Awards for Best Supporting Actor (2nd place)New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting ActorOklahoma Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting ActorOnline Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting ActorSan Francisco Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting ActorSoutheastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting ActorVillage Voice Film Poll for Best Supporting ActorNominated – Academy Award for Best Supporting ActorNominated – Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award for Best Ensemble CastNominated – Awards Circuit Community Award for Best Supporting ActorNominated – Gold Derby Film Award for Best Supporting ActorNominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role2008Semi-ProDukes2009Winged CreaturesBob JaspersonWatchmenWalter Kovacs / Rorschach Nominated – Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor2010Shutter IslandGeorge Noyce Nominated – Fangoria Chainsaw Award for Best Supporting ActorFreddy Krueger Nominated – Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor: Horror/ThrillerNominated – Scream Award for Best Villain2010LouisJudge PerryA silent movie traditionally accompanied by live performances from Wynton Marsalis and an all star jazz ensemble. 2012Dark ShadowsWillie LoomisLincolnAlexander H. Stephens2013ParklandFather Oscar Huber2014RoboCopRick Mattox2015Criminal ActivitiesGerryAlso director2016The Birth of a NationRaymond CobbLondon Has FallenChief Deputy Mason2017The Dark TowerSayre2019Alita: Battle AngelGrewishka 2020Death of a TelemarketerAsa Ellenbogen2021No FuturePhilip2022My Father's DragonTamir the Tarsier (voice)2023Devil's PeakRogersHypnoticJeremiahThe Retirement Plan Donnie2024The Long GameRichard MetzgerThe UnionForeman Dead Money Wendel AKA Shotgun2025Your HostThe Host2026Family MovieTBAPost-productionTBA TBA Filming
Television Year Title Role Notes1971Curiosity ShopDennis the Menace (voice)2 episodes1972Wait Till Your Father Gets HomeJamie Boyle (voice)11 episodes1973The Partridge FamilyRustyEpisode: "The Strike-Out King"1973Marcus Welby, M.D.TonyEpisode: "Nguyen"1974These Are the DaysDanny Day (voice)16 episodes1974Valley of the DinosaursGreg Butler (voice)16 episodes1974Planet of the ApesKraikEpisode: "The Legacy"1975Shazam!Norm BriggsEpisode: "The Delinquent"1975The WaltonsTomEpisode: "The Emergence"1979The Love BoatPaul Turner's "son"2 episodes1980InsightErnie Briggs Episode: "Chicken"1980–1981Breaking AwayMoocher8 episodes1981Every Stray Dog and KidTommy Ryan Television film1983American PlayhouseSeventeen-and-DesperateEpisode: "Miss Lonelyhearts"1983Whiz KidsHarlanEpisode: "A Chip Off the Old Block"1985MacGyverTurkEpisode: "Last Stand"1986Murder, She WroteBilly WillettsEpisode: "Powder Keg"1990Oh, No! Not THEM!RipTelevision film1990Gravedale HighGill Waterman (voice)13 episodes1991Get a LifeCousin DonaldEpisode: "Chris vs. Donald"1992 RenegadeStickEpisode: "Mother Courage"1993Prophet of Evil: The Ervil LeBaron StoryEddie MarstonTelevision film2010–2011Human TargetGuerrero25 episodes2016PreacherOdin Quincannon 8 episodes2016–2017The TickThe Terror11 episodes2018Narcos: MexicoJim Ferguson2 episodes2022The First LadyLouis Howe5 episodes2023Killing ItTroy ChubnerMultiple episodes
Theatre Year Title Voice role Notes 1983 Slab Boys Hector McKenzie Playhouse Theatre, New York City
Video games Year Title Voice role Notes2009 Watchmen: The End Is Nigh Walter Kovacs / Rorschach 2014 The Evil Within Ruvik
References
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