Career
Jackie Earle Haley was ten or eleven years old when he lent his voice to Jamie Boyle in the adult animated sitcom ‘Wait Till Your Father Gets Home’ in 1972. His screen debut came about in the same year, in the French thriller film ‘The Outside Man’.
His first appearance in an acting role on television was in an episode of ABC’s musical sitcom ‘The Partridge Family’. Between 1973 and 1975, Haley guest-starred in five more TV shows: ‘Marcus Welby, M.D.’ (1973), ‘Valley of the Dinosaurs’ (1974), ‘Planet of the Apes’ (1974), ‘Shazam!’ (1975), and ‘The Waltons’ (1975). He was cast as Adore Loomis in the 1975 drama film ‘The Day of the Locust.’
He then acted in the sports comedy ‘The Bad News Bears’ which was directed by Michael Ritchie and also starred Walter Matthau and Tatum O'Neal. Released in 1976, the film was a critical and commercial hit. Haley played Kelly Leak, a local juvenile delinquent who smokes and rides a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Leak is also the most gifted athlete in the neighbourhood. Haley reprised his role in the two sequels, ‘The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training’ (1977) and ‘The Bad News Bears Go to Japan’ (1978).
In 1977, he worked with Jan-Michael Vincent, George Peppard, Dominique Sanda, and Paul Winfield in Jack Smight’s post-apocalyptic film ‘Damnation Alley’. He then appeared in ABC’s comedy series ‘The Love Boat’, playing the role of Paul Turner’s son in two episodes of the show.
His first major role on the small screen was in the short-lived TV adaptation of his 1979 film ‘Breaking Away’. Haley returned as Moocher in the ABC comedy-drama that aired from November 29, 1980 to January 10, 1981. After a four-year hiatus from the big screen, he returned with ‘Losin’ It’, the 1983 comedy film that also starred Tom Cruise and Shelley Long.
There are speculations that Haley attended the auditions for Wes Craven's ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ with his friend Johnny Depp. When Craven saw Depp, he picked him to play the role of Glen Lantz over Haley. Despite this setback, Haley continued to be active through the 1980s and into the early 1990s.
In 1981, he appeared in the television film ‘Every Stray Dog and Kid’ and was cast as a bully in the 1985 teen film ‘The Zoo Gang’. He made cameo appearances in multiple TV shows, including ‘American Playhouse’ (1983), ‘Whiz Kids’ (1983), ‘MacGyver’ (1985), and ‘Murder, She Wrote’ (1986). During this period, Haley was consciously shedding his young-adult persona and appearing in more mature roles.
Haley did the second telefilm of his career in 1990. Titled ‘Oh, No! Not THEM!’, it was originally created as a pilot for the American remake of the British show ‘The Young Ones’. However, it was never televised. In the same year, he was cast as the voice of Gill Waterman in NBC’s animated series ‘Gravedale High’. Although the show did not last long and was cancelled only after 13 episodes, it has since gained a cult status.
In the 1991 science fiction action film ‘Dollman’, he was cast as the human antagonist of space cop Brick Bardo (Tim Thomerson). In 1992, Haley appeared in the cyberpunk film ‘Nemesis’. His last firm before he took a long break from acting was the 1993 action slasher ‘Maniac Cop III: Badge of Silence’. He also appeared in two television series, ‘Get a Life’ (1991) and ‘Renegade’ (1992), and a telefilm ‘Prophet of Evil: The Ervil LeBaron Story’ (1993).
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After 1993, Haley disappeared from the screen. He moved to San Antonio and started making commercials. The hiatus eventually ended more than a decade later, with a role in the political-drama ‘All the King’s Men’ (2006). In 2008, he made a cameo appearance in the comedy film ‘Semi-Pro’ and portrayed the character Bob Jasperson in the film adaptation of Roy Freirich's novel ‘Winged Creatures’.
He then appeared in Zack Snyder’s 2009 film ‘Watchmen’ which was based on the graphic novel of the same name by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. Haley’s Walter Kovacs / Rorschach is essentially the protagonist of the film, as he serves as the narrator of the story as well as drives the plot forward. He shared screen space with Leonardo DiCaprio in Martin Scorsese’s 2010 neo-noir psychological thriller ‘Shutter Island’.
He finally got the chance to appear in a Freddy Krueger film in 2010, when he was cast as the burnt serial killer himself in ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’, the remake of Wes Craven's 1984 film of the same name. He worked with Depp in the 2012 horror comedy ‘Dark Shadows’ and played the historical figure Alexander H. Stephens in Steven Spielberg’s ‘Lincoln’ (2012).
Haley made a return to the small screen with Fox’s action drama series ‘Human Target’. Since 2016, he has been playing The Terror in Amazon Video’s ‘The Tick’. He was also cast as Odin Quincannon, the primary antagonist in the first season of AMC’s ‘Preacher’.
His first directorial venture was ‘Criminal Activities’, the 2015 crime thriller starring John Travolta, Michael Pitt, Dan Stevens, Rob Brown and Haley himself. More recently, he played the character of Sayre in ‘The Dark Tower’ (2017). He is set to appear in the upcoming cyberpunk action film ‘Alita: Battle Angel’.
Personal Life
Jackie Earle Haley has been married three times. His first wife was Sherry Vaughan, whom he married on November 6, 1979. They subsequently divorced and he wed his second wife, Jennifer Hargrave, in 1985. They have two children together: son Christopher (born March 4, 1986) and daughter Olivia (1998). That marriage ended in a divorced too.
His third and present wife is Amelia Cruz. Their wedding took place on August 6, 2004. It was reported in 2016 that the couple was thinking of adopting children together. They currently reside in San Antonio, Texas.
