Jack Haley who portrayed the Tin Man lived a heartfelt life.

Regardless of how many films the cast members of The Wizard of Oz were in, they're most often best remembered from their roles in this glorious film. And John Joseph "Jack" Haley who played both the Tin Man and the Kansas farm worker, Hickory, is no exception.

Long before being cast as the Tin Man, Jack starred in vaudeville as a song-and-dance comedian. In the early 1930s Jack was featured in numerous comedy shorts that were produced by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National, using Vitaphone, the last and most successful of the sound-on-disc processes employed by the film industry back then.

Thanks to his wide-eyed, good-natured facial expression, Jack was chosen to appear in various musical feature films, including Poor Little Rich Girl with Shirley Temple, Higher and Higher with Frank Sinatra, and the Irving Berlin musical Alexander's Ragtime Band.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer hired Jack for The Wizard of Oz after another song-and-dance man, Buddy Ebsen, who was originally set to play the Tin Man, nearly died from inhaling the aluminum dust makeup, which was used to help create the character.  Jack's natural voice, which he used for the part of Hickory, was on the rough side. But for the Tin Man, he spoke more softly, which he later said was the tone of voice he used when reading stories to his children.

Jack who hailed from Boston, Massachusetts, married Florence McFadden, a native of Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania on February 25, 1921, and they remained together until his death in 1979. The couple had a son, Jack Haley, Jr. who grew up to be a film director, producer and writer, and a daughter, Gloria. In 1972, Haley made her, the sole owner of his written memoirs, and six years later she published them in the form of the hardcover book Heart of the Tin Man.

Jack died of a heart attack on June 6, 1979 in Los Angeles, California at the age of 80. Just a couple of months before his passing, Jack made an appearance at that year's Academy Awards® ceremony with his fellow actor and fellow Bostonian, Ray Bolger who had played the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz.

Comments

[Kristen Gingrich]

It is awful about what happened to Jack Haley, other than Dorothy i really enjoyed watching Jack Haley as the tin man, i love listening to the song if i only had a heart.

[Rosario Olgin]

THAt was the Greatest film of all time and our Family always sat together to watch every time it came out in. It show us so much love, courage, and family values that keep me striaght to know some where over Rainbow where all my dreams came and or come true all in JESUS name!

[Sue]

Nobody loves the characters and adores that movie more than I do. I was so afraid of the wicked witch when I was young, but then I faced my fears, and watched it as much as I could till I wasn't afraid of her anymore."Why it's a man, amna made out of tin", and "all in good time, my pretty, all in good time" are tow of my favorite quotes from my favorite characters.

[Kevin S.Butler]

Jack Haley,Sr. made one final appearance on the first tv tribute to Oz"The Wizardry Of Oz"in 1979.

[John Mackey]

I had the good fortune of working for Mr. Haley, at Lake Pillsbury Ranch, Mendocino county CA. He was very pleasant
His boyhood sounded like Moss Hart in "Act One" There was a huge photo of the four of them on the wall in the Lodge. 3,000 acres! Mt. Hull, The Eel River, the smell of sawdust in the air! Horses in the high pines. It was glorious.

[Kipp]

My sister and I watched the movie for 13 years straight when we were old enough to understand it....then it came on Saturday nights...it moved to Sunday nights so we had to break our tradition...Coz of Church..My favorite part....when black and white went to color when Dorothy opened the door to Munchkin land..Fantastic movie!!

[johnny l]

Greatest movie ever.

[Mary McElroy]

i have always loved the
"WIZARD OF OZ"it is a classic and sometimes ill watch it over and over again <3<3

[pemeske]

My oh so frugal parents never sprung for a color television until after I had moved out of the house, so except for the odd clip in a commercial, I never got to see the full (mostly) color version until I had children of my own. I wouldn't recommend waiting that long, but it was worth it...

[Ace Ramage]

The movie opens by reading that it is a story for the young at heart, and it truly is. I am 58 years old and I still get something new out of the movie each time I watch it. As a child, I recall anxiously awaiting the movie to air each year here in Indianapolis. My Grandma would bring us colored popcorn balls to eat while we screamed at the flying monkeys to not hurt Dorothy.

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