My Genealogy Hound

Jack Haley, The Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz, grave and tombstone, Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California, photo

The tombstone and grave site of Jack Haley, most well known as the The Tin Man in The Wizard Of Oz. Haley was born as John Joseph Haley on August 10, 1897 (the birth year is in dispute, his tombstone reads 1898) at Boston, Massachusetts. His parents were both Canadian immigrants. Haley began his career during the 1920's in vaudeville as a singer, dancer and comedian. He was a frequent performer on Broadway with nearly 2,000 appearance between 1924 and 1949. He had a number of roles in the movies from 1927 to 1977. Haley also had his own radio show from 1937 to 1939. The role that made Haley a nationally known star was as The Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz movie of 1939. It is hard to imagine the classic Wizard of Oz movie without Haley as The Tin Man, but it actually was intended to have been somewhat different. Another well known vaudeville singer and dancer of the time was Buddy Ebsen (Jed Clampett of The Beverly Hillbillies) and it was Ebsen who was originally cast as The Tin Man. Ebsen however developed a serious (and potentially fatal) allergic reaction to the silver colored aluminum makeup that The Tin Man was to wear and was thus replaced by Jack Haley. In another twist of fate, Haley's son, Jack Haley, Jr. married Liza Minnelli, the daughter of Judy Garland (Oz co-star, Dorothy).

Jack Haley died of a heart attack on June 6, 1979 at Los Angeles, California. He was 81 or 82 years old. He had been married to his wife Florence for 58 years. His remains are buried in Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California. His tombstone is rather soil stained and thus is little difficult to read.