As I delve into the captivating life story of Jonathan Haze, a name synonymous with the golden age of B-movies, I am struck by his remarkable resilience and adaptability. Born to a jeweler in Pittsburgh, he navigated the tumultuous world of Hollywood with an unwavering spirit that would make even the most seasoned actors envious.
Actor Jonathan Haze, who played Seymour Krelborn, the flower shop assistant in the original “The Little Shop of Horrors,” and worked with filmmaker Roger Corman on around two dozen projects, has passed away at the age of 95.
Sadly, it was reported that Haze passed away last Saturday at his residence in Los Angeles. This information was shared by his daughter, Rebecca Haze, with The Hollywood Reporter.
Cousin to the renowned drummer Buddy Rich, Haze was a vital and adaptable artist within Corman’s film company from 1954. During this period, he acted in both “The Fast and the Furious” and “Monster From the Ocean Floor”. His association with Corman continued until 1967, during which he starred in “The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” and also worked as an assistant director on “The Born Losers”.
One memorable role for Haze was playing one of the three young individuals who accidentally discover a quarter-million dollars’ worth of heroin and decide to sell it in the Warner Bros. drama “Stakeout on Dope Street” (1958), which marked Irvin Kershner’s debut as a director.
Born in Pittsburgh, this individual showcased versatility in his acting career by portraying diverse roles. He was a contaminated man in ‘Day the World Ended’ (1955), an outlaw in ‘Five Guns West’ (1955), a dim-witted bartender in ‘Gunslinger’ (1956), a pickpocket in ‘Swamp Women’ (1956) where he also trained the actresses in fighting, a Latino soldier in ‘It Conquered the World’ (1956), a manservant working for an alien in ‘Not of This Earth’ (1957), and a short Viking in ‘The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent’ (1957).
In the 1960 movie “Little Shop of Horrors,” directed by Corman, the character Seymour, who is rather clumsy, discovers that a strange plant he nurtured from seeds given to him by a Japanese gardener thrives on blood and human tissue. (The film was initially named “The Passionate People Eater.”)
In an unforgettable instance, he removes a tooth or two from the mouth of mortician Wilbur Force, portrayed by Jack Nicholson.
In the movie, all interior scenes were completed within just two lengthy days, each lasting about 20 hours. After that, we ventured outside and filmed for three nights using a separate crew. It was quite a chaotic experience, as Haze, who earned $400 for the job, described in 2001. “We were filming right on Skid Row, employing homeless people as extras,” he said. “For every walk-through, we’d give them just a dime.
In a 2011 blog post on Tumblr, Haze was characterized as a petite, slender man with youthful charm, and it was highly probable that he would never lead the cast, not even in Corman’s unique cinematic world. Instead, he chose to portray an array of eccentric and downtrodden characters.
He consistently showed an intense passion for any project he tackled, and interestingly enough, he was quite adaptable physically. His face could transform dramatically depending on the costume he donned, and he didn’t shy away from fully embracing a new character by altering his posture and voice on screen. As a result, it was almost as if he became an entirely different person with each role.
Born in Pittsburgh on April 1, 1929, Jack Aaron Schachter – son of a jeweler – initially honed his skills on the stage with Rich, before spending two years managing the stage for the renowned entertainer Josephine Baker.
Following a summer spent acting in Connecticut, Schachter thenched his way to Los Angeles where he found employment as a gas attendant at the intersection of Santa Monica Boulevard and North Vista Street. It was during this time that he encountered Wyott Ordung, an aspiring director, who later introduced him to Corman.
Corman offered him a role, specifically for someone of Mexican descent. However, there’s a condition – you need to grow a mustache. Additionally, you should bring your own clothes for the character, perform your own stunts, and understand that regular pay with overtime is not part of the deal. Are you still interested?
In the underwater horror flick “Monster From the Ocean Floor,” they called me Jack Hayes, but later on, I decided to go by Jonathan Haze as my stage name instead. During that time, I introduced my buddy, another actor named Dick Miller, to the filmmaker. Little did we know, Dick would end up being a regular co-star in many of our films together.
During an interview with Tom Weaver for his 1998 book, “Science Fiction and Fantasy Film Flashbacks”, Jackie Joseph (the actress who portrayed Audrey in “Little Shop”) stated that Haze faced nearly all the stress during the production of the film.
She remarked, ‘I believe none of us would have achieved our success without him being so diligent in his work.’ It’s surprising to consider ‘professionalism’ when discussing something as seemingly unprofessional as Little Shop, but there were certainly professionals on that stage.
(Rick Moranis portrayed Seymour in the 1986 Little Shop remake directed by Frank Oz.)
In the 1955 film “Apache Woman“, due to cost-effectiveness, Corman opted for actors to switch costumes rather than employing new ones. As a result, Haze and others portrayed warriors on both sides of the conflict. Reflecting on this, he reminisced about a scene where they were engaged in a fierce gunfight, shooting at the Native Americans, yet in that same battle, they were the ones getting hit as part of their role as the “Indians”.
Among Haze’s projects for Corman, there were films like “The Beast With a Million Eyes” (1955), “Carnival Rock” (1957), “Naked Paradise” (1957), “Teenage Cave Man” (1958), “The Premature Burial” (1962), “The Terror” (1963), and “X: The Man With the X-Ray Eyes” (1963).
In 1999, he collaborated on a project with Corman for what turned out to be the final time. This was during the time when he appeared as a guest star in the television series titled “The Phantom Eye”.
Haze penned the screenplay for the 1962 film “Invasion of the Star Creatures” and served as a production manager for Haskell Wexler’s “Medium Cool” in 1969. Additionally, he co-produced “Another Nice Mess” with Tom Smothers in 1972. Later on, he held the position of CEO at a company responsible for marketing campaigns for popular products like Kool-Aid and Schlitz Beer.
Besides Rebecca, there are also survivors such as Deedee (another daughter), Andrew, Rocco, and Ruby (grandchildren), along with great-grandson Sonny. He was married to costume designer Roberta Keith from the mid-1960s until their divorce in 1981, and she passed away in September.
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2024-11-05 02:25